PRESENTED  TO  THE  LIBRARY 


OF 


PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


BY 


JVTfs.  Alexander  Ppoudfit. 

BV  4501  .R45 

Reid,  William,  1814-1896 

The  paths  of  the  Lord 


THE 


PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 


BY  / 

REV.   WILLIAM    REID, 

EDINBURGH, 
AUTHOR    OF    "THE    BLOOD    OF    JESUI 


"I  will  bring  the  blind  by  a  way  that  they  knew  not ;  I  will  lead  them 
in  paths  that  they  have  not  known  :  I  will  make  darkness  light  before 
them,  and  crooked  things  straight.  These  things  will  I  do  unto  them,  and 
not  forsake  them."  — Isaiah  xlii.  16. 


PUBLISHED    BY   THE 

AMERICAN    TRACT    SOCIETY, 
28  CoBNHiLL,   Boston. 


OBO.    C.    RAND    &    AVERT, 
8TKRE0TYPERS    AND     PRINTERS 


PREFACE 


When  two  equal  forces  are  directed  at  right  angles 
upon  a  given  movable  object,  tbat  object  will  move 
in  the  direction  of  neither  force,  but  in  a  direction  in- 
tennediate  to  both.  So  is  it  with  us  when  acted  upon 
by  the  carnal  heart  and  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of 
God.  That  gospel  may  be  clearly  preached  or  writ- 
ten ;  but  it  generally  happens  that,  on  account  of  our 
natural  blindness  and  opposition,  it  has  to  take  an- 
other than  the  direct  course  in  reaching  our  hearts 
and  in  saving  our  souls.  We  propose  to  show  the 
way  by  which  sinners,  on  account  of  their  ignorance, 
have  to  be  brought  to  know  the  truth  of  the  gospel 
as  a  personal  experience;  and,  by  the  Spirit  and 
providence  of  God,  to  enjoy  its  sanctifiying  and  sav- 
ing power. 

The  sin-crisis,  as  described  in  this  work,  must  be 

experienced  either  before  or  after  conversion ;  and  it 

is  an  experience  which  will  make  us  "  walk  softly  " 

henever  it  comes.     I  believe  that  all  who  are  saved 

cvre  more  or  less  convinced  of  sin  previous  to  conver- 

III 


IV  PREFACE. 

sion,  for  Jesus  says,  "  I  came  not  to  call  the  righteous 
but  sinners  to  repentance ;"  but  in  the  case  of  some, 
it  may  be  so  blended  with  the  experience  of  the  love 
of  God  in  Christ,  that  it  is  not  strong,  or  very  dis- 
tinctly recognized.  It  is,  however,  the  conscious  sin- 
ner that  Jesus  saves ;  or  else,  if  there  be  no  conscious- 
ness of  sin  and  danger,  salvation  is  an  unmeaning 
term,  and  conversion  is  a  piece  of  unintelligible  mys- 
ticism. 

In  the  case  of  those  who  have  had  no  religious 
education,  and  who,  at  the  same  time  have  run  greed- 
ily in  the  ways  of  the  world,  conviction  of  sin  is  gen- 
erally overwhelming,  —  the  sin-crisis  comes  before 
conversion ;  while  in  the  case  of  those  who  have  had 
a  thorough  religious  training,  conviction  may  be  very 
feeble  and  gradual  before  conversion,  and  the  sin- 
crisis  may  take  place  months  and  even  years  subse- 
quent to  conversion,  and  generally  on  the  back  of 
some  declension  from  the  "first  love"  and  zealous 
service  of  conversion  times.  But  let  no  perishing 
sinner  hanker  after  the  mere  accidents  of  conversion 
and  salvation.  On  the  contrary,  be  in  earnest  to 
have  Christ  in  you  the  hope  of  glory,  and  leave  the 
manner  of  his  entrance  entirely  to  himself. 


CONTENTS. 


I. 

THE  PATH  OF  PEACE, ...7 

II. 
THE  PATH  OF  PURITY 21 

III. 
THE  PATH  OF  STRENGTH, 29 


IV. 

THE   PATH  OF  COMFORT, 43 

V 


VI  CONTENTS. 

V. 

THE  PATH  OF  SERVICE, 55 

VI. 
THE  PATH  OF  LIGHT, 73 

VII. 
THE   PATH  OF  LIFE, 105 

VIII. 
THE  PATH  OF  GLORY 122 


THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LOED. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE     PATH     OF     PEACE. 

p^HE  Apostle  Peter  writes,  that  there 
are  "  given  unto  us  exceeding  great 
and  precious  promises;"  and  that 
blessed  passage  in  Isaiah  forty-second 
and  sixteenth  contains  some  that  are 
"  exceeding  great  and  precious."  Only  lis- 
ten to  your  Shepherd's  voice,  and  you  must 
wonder  at  the  gracious  words  which  proceed 
out  of  his  mouth:  ''I  ivill  bring  the  blind  by 
a  ivay  that  they  knew  not ;  I  will  lead  them 
in  2^ctths  that  they  have  not  hnoivn.  I  will 
make  darkness  light  before  them,  and  crooked 

.    7 


8  THE  PATH  a  OF  THE  LORD. 

tilings  straight.  These  things  will  I  do  unto 
them,  and  not  forsake  them.'*^  How  exceed- 
ing great  and  precious  to  our  souls  are  such 
promises  as  these !  How  cheering  in  this 
wilderness  to  hear  "the  voice  of  my  Be- 
loved," saying,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway ! " 
Our  gracious  Redeemer  is  ever  near.  The 
good  Shepherd  goeth  before  his  sheep,  and 
leadeth  them  forth  by  "  the  right  way," 
though  it  may  be  "  by  a  way  that  they  knew 
not." 

My  Christian  friends,  let  me  recall  to  your 
remembrance  that  he  brought  you  by  a  way 
you  knew  not,  w^hen  he  made  you  '*  his  peo- 
ple, and  the  sheep  of  his  pasture."  In  your 
spiritual  ignorance,  you  wished  to  be  brought 
to  Jesus  by  a  way  of  your  own,  and  you  had 
the  whole  way  pictured  out ;  and  it  seemed 
quite  amazing  to  you  that  the  Lord  should 
set  your  way  entirely  at  naught.  You 
thought  that  your  way  of  being  brought  to 
Jesus  and  to  enjoy  peace  was  the  right  way ; 


TJIE  PATH  OF    PEACE.  9 

and  yet  God  had  no  pleasure  in  it.  You 
professed  to  renounce  the  deeds  of  the  law, 
and  to  put  on  the  righteousness  of  Christ, — 
to  acknowledge  the  necessity  of  regenerat- 
ing grace,  and  to  live  by  faith  on  the  Son 
of  God.  But,  though  your  profession  was 
right,  your  practice  was  wrong ;  for,  on  ac- 
count of  the  blindness  of  your  heart,  you 
missed  the  narrow  way,  —  "the  new  and 
living  way,"  —  and  walked  in  the  Avay  of 
anxiety  rather  than  in  the  way  of  divine 
peace.  Some  of  you  struggled  hard  to  make 
for  yourselves  a  religious  way  into  the  pres- 
ence of  the  holy  Jehovah.  You  would  fain 
have  formed  a  pavement  of  glistering  good- 
ness by  which  to  come  near  the  great  and 
mighty  God.  In  order  to  do  this  you  would 
be  correct  in  your  conduct ;  you  would  be 
devout  and  "instant  in  prayer  ;  "  you  would 
strive  to  have  good  hearts  and  holy  thoughts ; 
you  would  make  vows  and  resolutions  ;  you 
would  peruse  the  Scriptures  with  great  dil- 


10  2'HE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

igence,  and  be  constant  and  earnest  in  your 
attendance  on  all  the  duties  and  ordinances 
of  religion.  How  many  poor  souls  are 
continually  building  at  this  tower  of  Babel, 
whose  top,  they  imagine,  will  reach  to  heav- 
en !  And  yet,  w^hen  the  Lord  comes  down 
to  bring  them  to  himself,  the  first  thing  he 
does  is  to  confound  them,  and  stop  the  build- 
ing of  the  tower!  He  first  confounds  all 
such  Babel-builders,  whom  he  means  to  teach 
a  more  excellent  way.  When  you  were 
arrested  by  the  Lord,  was  it  not  very  diffi- 
cult to  stand  still  and  see  your  religion  all 
leveled  by  the  divine  Spirit,  who  alone  can 
bring  blind  sinners  into  the  King's  high- 
way ?  You  confessed  yourselves  lost ;  but, 
that  you  might  be  made  thoroughly  to  feel 
it,  the  good  Spirit  was  commissioned  to  ac- 
quaint you  with  your  true  condition.  Your 
sins  were  set  in  order  before  you,  —  you 
were  made  to  feel  that  they  formed  moun- 
tain barriers  between  you  and  your  God. 


THE  PATH  OF  PEACE.  11 

Your  conscience  felt  burdened,  and  all  hope 
of  salvation  was  cut  off.  The  sorrows  of 
death  compassed  you  ;  and  the  waves  of 
wrath  appeared  ready  to  overwhelm  your 
soul.  Ah,  how  mysterious  and  strange  was 
all  this !  Yet  this  is  God's  way,  that  he 
may  lay  sinners  in  the  dust.  He  leads  to 
such  views  of  sin  as  to  show  them  that  it 
deserves  infinite  punishment;  and  in  their 
mental  anguish  they  are  brought  to  descend, 
as  it  were,  into  the  very  depths  of  the  "  hor- 
rible pit,"  and  to  lie  there  crying,  individu- 
ally, "  God  be  merciful  to  me,  a  sinner !  " 
And  when  by  the  mercy  of  God  they  are 
saved,  they  can  sing  with  intelligence  that 
awful,  joyful  song,  "  I  will  glorify  thy  name 
for  evermore  ;  for  great  is  thy  mercy  toward 
me,  and  thou  hast  delivered  my  soul  from 
the  lowest  hell." 

The  Holy  Ghost,  although  called  the 
Comforter,  gives  no  comfort  to  carnal  hearts. 
On  the  contrary,  he  leads  the  lost  one  to 


12  THE  PATHS  OF  TEE  LOItD. 

Sinai,  and  makes  him  hear  the  thunders  of 
Jehovah,  and  gaze  upon  the  flashing  hght- 
nings  of  his  vengeance,  and  listen  to  the 
awful  curses  of  his  broken  law.  He  can 
give  you  no  comfort  in  your  sins ;  and  it  is 
more  than  likely  that  he  will  so  convince 
you  of  sin  that  your  conscience  will  be 
lashed  into  a  fearful  storm,  and  the  fierce 
tempest  of  the  Almighty  will  appear  to 
sweep  over  your  soul.  And  when  you 
stand  "  trembling  and  astonished,"  and 
know  not  which  way  to  turn,  he  will  take 
you  by  your  right  hand,  and  leaxi  you  to 
the  cross  of  Calvary ;  and  while  he  reminds 
you,  even  there,  that  "  our  God  is  a  con- 
suming fire,"  he  will  bid  you  "  behold  the 
Lamb ;"  and,  as  you  look,  you  will  hear  a 
voice  from  that  crucified  One,  speaking 
peace,  and  sa^'ing,  "  I,  even  I,  am  he  that 
blotteth  out  thy  transgressions  for  mine  own 
sake,  and  will  not  remember  thy  sins."  "  I 
am  the  way ;  no  man  cometh  to  the  Father 


THE  PATH  OF  PEACE.  13 

but  by  me ;  "  and  ''  Him  that  cometh  I  will 
in  no  wise  cast  out."  This  is  the  new  and 
living  waj,  —  the  only  way  of  salvation,  yet 
a  way  we  knew  not,  and  never  should  have 
known  had  we  been  left  to  ourselves. 

And,  before  going  further,  let  me  solemn- 
ly ask  you,  my  dear  reader,  what  is  your 
experience  of  this  way  ?  Have  you  been 
brought  to  God  by  his  own  w^ay,  of  convic- 
tion of  sin  and  application  of  the  blood  of 
Jesus  ?  Happy  are  you  if  the  Lord  is  your 
Shepherd !  Oh,  what  a  blessing  it  is  to  be 
made  to  cease  from  man  and  from  self,  and 
to  lie  passive  in  the  wilderness  before  the 
good  Shepherd,  and  allow  him  to  bring  us 
to  himself  in  his  own  blessed  way,  of  con- 
viction, pardon,  and  peace!  Oh,  how  de- 
sirable it  is  to  be  washed  in  the  blood  of 
atonement,  and  clothed  in  the  spotless  right- 
eousness of  Immanuel !  This  is  God's  meth- 
od, —  God's  holy  way  of  saving  sinners ; 
and  truly  it  is  a  way  w^e  knew  not,  —  a  way 


14        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

we  never  should  have  known,  had  not  he 
who  commanded  the  hght  to  shine  out  of 
darkness  shined  into  our  hearts,  to  give  the 
hght  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God 
in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 

But  Jesus  is  given  to  be  a  leader  to  his  peo- 
ple to  the  end  of  time,  —  yea,  even  through- 
out eternity,  —  for  it  is  written,  "They 
shall  hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any 
more ;  neither  shall  the  sun  light  on  them, 
nor  any  heat :  for  the  Lamb  which  is  in  the 
midst  of  the  throne  shall  feed  them,  and 
shall  lead  them  to  living  fountains  of  waters  ; 
and  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  fi'om  their 
eyes." 

When  the  Lord  brings  lost  sinners  to 
himself  in  his  own  gracious  way,  it  is  that 
they  may  remain  with  him  as  the  sheep  of 
his  pasture,  and  follow  him  wheresoever  he 
may  lead  them.  Conversion  is  the  begin- 
ning of  grace,  —  not  the  end.  Conversion 
is  the  gate  of  the  narrow  way ;  and  even 


THE  PATH  OF  PEACE.  15 

after  we  are  converted,  we  have  the  whole 
way  to  glory  before  us  ;  and  being  ignorant 
of  it  and  under  the  necessity  of  traveling  in 
it,  we  must  be  daily  following  the  Captain  of 
our  salvation,  who  says,  in  his  great  love, 
''Iivill  lead  them  in  paths  that  they  have  not 
hiowny  The  Lord's  ways  are  very  diifer- 
ent  from  our  ways.  When  he  called  us  by 
his  grace,  he  himself  knew  what  he  would 
do ;  but  we  knew  it  not.  And  seeing  that 
we  are  "  blind  "  as  to  the  way  in  which  we 
are  yet  to  walk,  may  we  not  expect  to  be 
led  in  many  "  paths "  of  which  we  have 
never  thought  ?  But  although  his  ways  are 
not  our  ways,  yet  his  ways  are  always  best. 
The  experience  we  shall  receive  in  these 
ways  of  his  will  prove  salutary  to  us,  and 
(by  his  grace)  glorifying  to  him. 

When  Israel  came  out  of  Egypt,  they 
were  taking  what  would  certainly  have  been 
the  shortest,  and,  to  the  eye  of  man  the 
safest,  way  to  go  to  Canaan  ;  but  it  was  not 


16         THE  PATHS  OF   THE  LORD. 

God's  way,  and  therefore  they  had  to  give 
it  up.  They  were  taking  that  course  by 
which  they  would  have  altogether  escaped 
the, Red  Sea;  but  "the  Lord  spake  unto 
jNIoses,  saying,  Speak  unto  the  children  of 
Israel  that  they  turn.^^  They  were  on  their 
way  northward,  to  pass  by  the  sea ;  but  the 
Lord  commanded  them  to  move  southwards, 
and  encamp  between  the  sea  and  their  ene- 
mies !  This  might  have  appeared  to  many 
among  them  a  strange  and  dangerous  pro- 
cedure ;  but  "  the  foolishness  of  God  is  wiser 
than  men."  For  though  they  were  shut  in 
by  impassable  rocks  on  either  hand,  faced  by 
the  rolling  waves,  and  closely  pursued  by  an 
armed  host,  they  were  quite  safe ;  for  they 
had  gone  into  that  difficult  and  trying  po- 
sition at  the  command  of  God^  and  he  was 
in  the  midst  of  them,  to  open  up  for  them  a 
way  of  escape ;  and  he  led  them  in  those 
very  paths  which  more  fully  showed  them 
his   grace   and   power,  —  accomplished   the 


THE  PATH  OF  PEACE.  17 

complete  overthrow  of  their  enemies,  "  and 
manifested  forth  his  glory."  "  This  cometh 
from  the  Lord,  who  is  wonderful  in  counsel 
and  excellent  in  working."  And  surely, 
my  dear  friends,  when  we  are  at  any  time 
in  perplexity  and  know  not  what  to  do,  this 
may  teach  us  to  be  still,  and  know  that  he 
is  God.  The  sorrowing  disciples  of  our 
Lord  would  not  have  felt  his  visit,  on  the 
evening  of  that  day  on  which  he  rose  from 
the  grave,  to  be  so  refreshing,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  circumstances  in  which  they 
were  then  placed.  Their  hearts  were  not 
only  sorrowfiil,  but  they  were  fearful  lest 
they  should  be  arrested  and  murdered  as 
their  Lord  had  been.  The  narrative  is  full 
of  instruction.  It  runs  thus :  "  Then  the 
same  day,  at  evening,  being  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  when  the  doors  were  shut  where 
the  disciples  were  assembled  for  fear  of  the 
Jews,  came  Jesus  and  stood  in  the  midst, 
and  saith  unto  them,  Peace  be  unto  yoo. 


18        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

And  when  he  had  so  said,  he  showed  unto 
them  his  hands  and  his  side.  Then  were 
the  disciples  glad,  when  they  saw  the  Lord." 
They  feared  the  Jews  ;  but  instead  of  a  visit 
of  infuriated  Jews,  they  had  a  visit  of  the 
risen  Jesus,  speaking  in  words  of  love,  and 
saying,  "  Peace  be  unto  you,"  and  showing 
unto  them  "  his  hands  and  his  side,"  to  as- 
sure them,  at  once,  that  he  indeed  was  their 
crucified  Lord,  and  that  he  had  "  made 
peace  by  the  blood  of  his  cross."  "  Then 
were  the  disciples  glad  when  they  saw  the 
Lord."  If  you  will  follow  the  Lord  fully, 
he  will  doubtless  lead  you  into  circumstances 
of  trial  and  perplexity,  where,  like  Paul  in 
Adria,  you  will  be  "driven  up  and  down," 
and  for  many  days  you  may  neither  see  sun 
nor  stars,  "  and  have  no  small  tempest,"  in 
order  to  try  your  faith,  and  show  you  his 
salvation. 

When  brought  to  Jesus,  the  Lord's  deal- 
ings with  us  ever  after  are  such  as  to  make 


THE  PATH  OF  PEACE.  19 

US  cease  from  our  oavr  ways,  and  allow  our- 
selves to  be  led  in  his.  His  paths  frequently 
cross  our  paths,  —  in  fact,  his  paths  run  quite 
contrary  to  our  natural  hearts  ;  and  that  is 
the  reason  why  there  is  so  much  difficulty 
felt  in  submitting;  to  the  will  of  God.  But 
what  can  ive  sinful  creatures  know  of  "  the 
way  of  holiness  ?  "  Nothing  at  all,  unless 
taught  by  God  himself.  How  frequently 
does  it  happen  that  the  inward  experience 
we  have  from  God  is  not  the  experience  we 
thought  we  should  have !  Some  of  you 
thought  you  should  have  nothing  but  peace 
and  joy,  sunshine  and  calm,  and  summer  all 
the  y^ar  round,  when  you  believed  in  Jesus 
and  connected  yourselves  with  the  people  of 
God.  But,  oh,  how  different  has  it  been ! 
how  checkered  has  been  your  experience ! 
You  will  find  out,  by  and  by,  if  you  have 
not  found  it  out  already,  that  your  souls  can 
enjoy  peace  only  by  a  full  surrender  of  your- 
selves to  Jesus,  to  be  led  as  poor  blind  chil- 


20  THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

dren  through  this  great  wilderness,  "  where 
there  is  no  way."  Like  Israel  of  old,  you 
must  submit  to  be  led  by  Israel's  God. 
"  He  led  them  forth  by  the  right  way^  that 
they  may  go  to  a  city  of  habitation.  He 
saved  them  for  his  name's  sake,  that  he 
might  make  his  mighty  power  to  be  known." 

Thy  way,  not  mine,  O  Lord,  however  dark  it  be  ! 
Lead  me  by  thine  own  hand,  choose  out  the  path  for 

me. 
Smooth  let  it  be  or  rough,  it  will  be  still  the  best ; 
Winding  or  straight,  it  matters  not,  it  leads  me  to  thy 

rest. 
I  dare  not  choose  my  lot :  I  would  not,  if  I  might  ; 
Choose  thou  for  me,  my  God,  so  shall  I  walk  aright. 
The  kingdom  that  I  seek  is  thine ;  so  let  the  way 
That  leads  to  it  be  thine,  else  I  must  surely  stray. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE    PATH     OF    PURITY. 

/^^^HE  Lord  frequently  leads  his  people 
IjfcfJ  in  paths  that  they  have  not  known, 
to  make  them  holy.  "  This  is  the 
will  of  God,  even  your  sanctifica- 
tion."  The  Lord  led  Israel  in 
paths  that  they  had  not  known,  when  he 
led  them  about  "  for  the  space  of  forty  years 
in  the  wilderness."  He  might  have  taken 
them  into  Canaan  in  a  few  days,  but  they 
were  not  ready  to  enter  upon  their  inheri- 
tance. Theirs  had  been,  in  Egypt,  the  life 
of  slaves,  and  they  were  not  fit  to  meet  the 
enemy  in  battle,  nor  to  be  put  in  possession 
of  the  land,  and  to  have  it  as  their  own. 
There  must  be  a  wilderness  education,  to 

21 


•22  THE  PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

teach  them  their  entire  dependence  upon 
Jehovah,  and  to  discover  the  dreadful  cor- 
ruption which  lay  concealed  in  their  hearts. 
When  he  was  preparing  them  for  immediate 
entrance  into  the  land  of  promise,  he  said, 
"  Thou  shalt  remember  all  the  way  which 
the  Lord  thy  God  led  thee  these  forty  years 
in  the  wilderness,  to  humble  thee^  and  to  prove 
thee,  and  to  knoiv  what  was  in  thine  heart, 
whether  thou  wouldst  keep  his  command- 
ments or  no.     And  he  humbled  thee.^^ 

How  much  corruption  does  a  season  of 
leading  through  the  wilderness  bring  forth 
to  view !  It  is  not  by  the  joys  of  first  love 
that  we  know  whether  we  will  walk  before 
God  to  the  praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace, 
but  by  a  few  years  of  "  the  wilderness." 
The  "  wilderness  "  reveals  the  wickedness, 
the  rebelliousness,  the  perverseness,  tlie  dis- 
contentedness,  the  godlessness,  and  deceit- 
fulness  of  the  human  heart.  It  is  the^^e  that 
the  Lord  "  humbles  us  and  proves  us,"  and 


THE  PATH  OF  PURITY.  23 

brings  out  what  is  in  our  hearts.  When 
your  soul  was  breathing  after  hoKness  and 
likeness  to  Jesus,  you  may  have  prayed 
earnestly  that  the  Lord  would  show  you  the 
hatefulness  of  sin  and  the  vileness  of  self, 
and  you  may  have  been  waiting  to  see 
whether  something  like  a  revelation  from 
heaven  would  not  be  made  to  you  ;  and  you 
may  have  felt,  in  some  measure,  disappointed 
that  you  had  not  obtained  such  deep  views 
of  sin  as  you  longed  to  have,  that  you  might 
with  more  intensity  abhor  yourself,  and  de- 
part from  iniquity.  A  period  of  wilderness- 
experience  was  given  you,  and  you  were 
brought  into  circumstances  which  were  most 
trying  and  provoking  to  the  carnal  heart. 
The  Lord  removed  his  hand,  to  some  extent, 
from  restraining  your  corruptions,  and  then 
you  had  the  answer  to  your  prayer  by  "  ter- 
rible things."  You  began  to  see  that  that 
awful  catalogue  of  sins  mentioned  by  the 
Saviour  might  have  been,  in  a  great  meas- 


24        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

ure,  filled  up  out  of  the  hateful  contents  of 
your  heart,  for  out  of  your  heart  were  pro- 
ceeding "  evil  thoughts,  adulteries,  fornica- 
tions, murders,  thefts,  covetousness,  wicked- 
ness, deceit,  lasciviousness,  an  evil  eye,  blas- 
phemy, pride,  foolishness."  You  thought 
that  your  heart  was  comparatively  good  be- 
fore this  experience  was  given  you,  and  you 
may  have  deplored  the  evil-heartedness  of 
others ;  but  now  you  see  that  within  your 
own  heart  there  were  lying  asleep  a  swarm 
of  loathsome  reptiles,  which  needed  only  to 
be  roused  to  make  them  trail  their  slimy 
coils  over  your  conduct,  and  sting  yourself 
and  all  around  you.  There  was  within  you 
a  stagnant  pool,  which  needed  only  to  be 
stirred  by  some  trouble,  offense,  or  tempta- 
tion, to  give  such  evidence  of  its  putridity  as 
to  disgust  yourself  and  all  who  came  within 
your  reach.  My  dear  friend,  if  the  Lord 
has  thus  allowed  your  corruptions  to  come 
out  and  disfigure  your  fair  profession,  and. 


THE  PATH  OF  PURITY.  25 

upon  mature  reflection,  to  make  you  loathe 
yourself,  then  give  him  thanks,  though  the 
experience  came  not  in  your  way,  but  in  a 
way  you  little  thought  of;  and  though  it 
was  hard  to  bear,  and  has  made  you  say 
and  do  things  of  which  you  are  now  ashamed, 
and  for  which  you  may  have  to  mourn  all 
your  days,  if  it  has  made  your  soul  "  like  a 
weaned  child,"  that  is  most  blessed,  for  that 
is  "  the  end  of  the  Lord." 

The  experience  of  that  accurate  spiritual 
anatomist,  President  Edwards,  is  peculiarly 
instructive  :  —  "When  I  look  into  my  heart, 
and  take  a  view  of  my  wickedness,  it  looks 
like  an  abyss  infinitely  deeper  than  hell ; 
and  it  appears  to  me  that  were  it  not  for 
free  grace  exalted  to  the  infinite  bight  of 
all  the  fullness  of  the  great  Jehovah,  and  the 
arm  of  his  power  stretched  forth  in  all  the 
glory  of  his  sovereignty,  I  should  sink  down 
in  it  beyond  the  sight  of  every  thing  but  \hQ 
eye  of  sovereign  grace,  that  can  pierce  even 


5S6  THE  PATES  OF  THE  LORD. 

to  such  a  depth.  And  yet  it  seems  to  me 
that  my  conviction  of  sin  is  exceedingly 
small  and  faint,  and  amazing  to  see  that  I 
have  no  more  sense  of  it.  I  have  greatly 
longed,  of  late,  for  a  hroken  heart,  and  can 
not  bear  the  thought  of  being  no  more  hum- 
ble than  other  Christians.  I  consider  that 
their  humility  would  be  vile  self-exaltation 
in  me.  Others  speak  of  longing  to  be  'hum- 
bled in  the  dust ; '  but  I  always  think  that  I 
ought  '  to  lie  infinitely  low  before  God,'  and 
such  is  often  my  expression  in  prayer.  And 
it  is  affecting  to  reflect  how  ignorant  I  was, 
when  a  young  Christian,  of  the  bottomless, 
infinite  depth  of  wickedness,  pride,  hypoc- 
risy, and  deceit,  in  my  heart."  Lord,  what 
is  man  ?     A  mass  of  corruption  ! 

Ah  !  you  thought,  when  the  sun  shone 
brightly,  and  the  fragrance  of  summer  was 
wafted  around  your  path,  that  your  old  sins 
were  completely  eradicated,  or  at  least  so 
far  subdued  that  they  would  never  again 


THE  PATH  OF  PURITY.  27 

vex,  distract,  and  pollute  you  ;  but  you  have 
been  taught  a  very  different  lesson.  You 
neglected  prayer,  or  reading,  or  meditation, 
or  watchfulness,  and  your  old  sins  began 
immediately  to  show  their  hateful  and  loath- 
some forms.  And  to  intensify  the  trial, 
"  the  old  serpent,"  at  such  times,  attacks 
the  sin-deluged  soul  with  his  fiery  tempta- 
tions, and  with  remorseless  malignity  en- 
deavors to  hurry  the  hardened  one  into  open 
sin,  and  heaviness  is  experienced  "  through 
manifold  temptations."  And  added  to  this, 
we  may  by  our  sins  have  separated  between 
us  and  our  God,  so  that  he  may  have  hid  his 
face  from  us,  and  have  "withdrawn  him- 
self." How  dreadful  is  such  a  case!  We 
are  ready  in  such  circumstances  to  exclaim, 
"  All  these  things  are  against  us  ;  "  but  they 
are  not  so  in  reality,  for  they  are  among  the 
"all  thincrs"  that 'work  tog;ether  for  our 
good;  and  "  the  good  Shepherd"  is  thus  ful- 
filling in  our  experience  his  own  gracious 


28        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

promise,  ^'I  ivill  lead  them  in  paths  that  they 
have  not  hnoivn.''^ 

I  walk  as  one  who  knows  that  he  is  treading 

A  stranger  soil  ; 
As  one  round  whom  a  serpent-world  is  spreading 

Its  subtle  coil. 

I  walk  as  one  but  yesterday  delivered 

From  a  sharp  chain ; 
"Who  trembles  lest  the  bond  so  newly  severed 

Be  bound  again. 

I  walk  as  one  who  feels  that  he  is  breathing 

Ungenial  air  ; 
For  whom,  as  wiles,  the  tempter  still  is  wreathing 

The  bright  and  fair. 

My  steps,  I  know,  are  on  the  plains  of  danger, 

For  sin  is  near ; 
But  looking  up,  I  pass  along,  a  stranger. 

In  haste  and  fear. 


3j*;c 


s^ 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE     PATH     OF     STRENGTH. 

HE    Lord  also  leads  his   people   in 
paths  they  have  not  known,  in  order 


to  confirm  them  in  the  faith  ^  and 
make  them  steadfast  in  his  covenant. 
The  God  of  all  grace,  who  hath 
called  us  unto  his  eternal  glory  by  Christ 
Jesus,  after  that  ye  have  suffered  a  while, 
make  you  perfect,  stablish,  strengthen,  set- 
tle you."  Thus  prayed  the  Apostle  Peter. 
He  well  knew  how  it  is  that  the  Lord  con- 
firms his  people.  He  was  himself  led  in 
paths  he  had  not  known.  He  was  full  of 
fire  and  fervor,  burning  with  love  to  Jesus, 
and,  decided  in  his  adherence  to  his  gracious 
Lord ;  he  would  go  with  him  to  prison  and 


29 


30        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

to  death  !  —  he  would  never  deny  him  !  — 
he  would  never  forsake  him ;  though  all 
should  forsake  him,  yet  would  he  abide 
faithful ;  he  would  stand  by  his  Redeemer, 
should  he  have  to  stand  alone  !  —  and  we  all 
know  what  he  did.  How  unlike  his  profes- 
sion were  his  deeds !  He  never  thought 
that  he  needed  to  be  taught  his  own  weak- 
ness in  such  an  unlooked-for  way.  He  was 
truly  led  in  paths  that  he  had  not  known, 
to  drive  out  of  him  his  self-confidence,  and 
teach  him  where  his  real  strength  lay,  —  to 
make  him  "  strono-  in  the  Lord  and  the 
power  of  his  might."  Jesus  said  to  him, 
"  When  thou  art  converted,  strengthen  thy 
brethren ; "  and  his  writings  —  his  two  Epis- 
tles—  have  been  eminently  useful  for  ac- 
complishing this  great  and  desirable  end. 
And  Peter's  experience  is  that  of  thousands. 
It  may  be  yours,  beloved  reader.  You  may 
have  been  led  in  paths  you  never  expected 
to  be  led  in,  to  deliver  you  from  self-corn- 


THE  PATB  OF  STRENGTH.  31 

placency,  self-sufficiency,  self-exaltation,  and 
self-confidence.  You  may  have  prayed  for 
steadfastness  and  consistency,  and  all  the 
time  you  may  have  never  felt  your  need  of 
God's  special  interference  on  your  behalf; 
but  the  Lord,  in  some  unexpected  way,  has 
answered  your  prayer,  by  showing  you  first 
your  own  utter  weakness  and  helplessness. 

The  wintry  storms  that  beat  upon  the 
forest  make  the  trees  thereof  take  a  firmer 
hold  of  the  soil ;  so  the  Lord,  by  permitting 
the  storms  of  trouble  and  temptation  to  beat 
upon  the  soul,  makes  his  people  strike  then* 
roots  deeper  and  deeper  into  clefts  of  "  the 
Rock  of  Ages,"  and  to  become  more  ground- 
ed and  settled  in  the  faith  of  the  gospel. 
The  Lord  frequently  confirms  his  people's 
faith  by  permitting  them  to  witness  the  falls 
of  others,  or  by  experience  of  their  own  un- 
even and  wayward  walk.  A  holy  minister 
of  Jesus  Christ  has  said  :  "  The  falls  of  pro- 
fessors into  sin  make  me  tremble.     I  have 


32        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

been  driven  away  from  prayer,  and  burdened 
in  a  feai'ful  manner,  by  hearing  or  seeing 
their  sin.  This  is  wrong.  It  is  right  to 
tremble,  and  to  make  every  sin  of  every  pro- 
fessor a  lesson  of  my  own  helplessness ;  but 
it  should  lead  me  more  to  Christ."  I  must 
say  that  I  have  been  frequently  .nade  to 
tremble  for  myself  when  I  heard  or  read  of 
the  fall  of  some  who  had  occupied  a  promi- 
nent position  in  the  church  of  Christ ;  and 
it  has  made  me  cling  to  Jesus  with  more 
earnestness  and  simplicity  of  faith.  I  have 
no  doubt  you  have  been  also  made  to  trem- 
ble for  yourself,  when  you  saw  those  who 
had  long  professed  to  be  followers  of  the 
Lamb  turning  back  or  falling  into  sin.  It 
takes  very  much  to  make  us  know  that  we 
are  "  without  strength,"  and  to  cleave  to 
God  as  our  strength. 

Conjoined  with  the  inward  teaching  of 
his  Sph'it,  we  need  the  outward  teaching  of 
his  providence.      Our  gracious   God  deals 


THE  PATH  OF  STRENGTH.  33 

with  us  in  love  in  all  lie  does  for  us,  and  in 
all  he  permits  to  happen  to  us.  Many  think 
they  are  established  in  the  faith,  when  they 
are  not  rooted  and  built  up  in  Christ ;  and 
they  must  be  taught  by  bitter  experience 
that  they  are  deceiving  themselves,  and 
walking  in  the  light  of  their  own  fire,  and 
delusively  trusting  in  themselves  that  they 
are  righteous,  and  despising  others.  If 
nothing  else  will  bring  them  to  a  sense  of 
their  true  condition,  God  will  let  Satan  loose 
upon  them  ;  then  will  then-  hearts  be  lashed 
into  a  dark  tempest,  and  their  iniquities,  like 
the  wind,  will  carry  them  away  to  the  re- 
gions of  doubt  and  darkness,  fear  and  de- 
spondency, if  not  into  open  rebellion,  and, 
perhaps,  even  back  for  a  season  to  the 
dreary  world,  to  which  they  thought  they 
had  bidden  an  eternal  farewell.  Some  pro- 
fessors are  permitted  for  a  time  to  follow  the 
ways  of  their  own  hearts,  and  others  are 
allowed  to  embrace   dangerous  errors  and 


34        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

soul-distracting  views  of  divine  things,  that 
they  may  eventually  embrace  the  truth  as  it 
is  in  Jesus  more  cordially,  and  walk  in  the 
truth  more  consistently.  Satan  is  some- 
times permitted  to  fill  the  mind  with  dread- 
ful and  tormenting  doubts  with  regard  to 
the  whole  scheme  of  salvation,  and  the 
very  foundations  seem  as  if  they  would  be 
destroyed.  Atheism,  infidelity,  perplexing 
thoughts  about  God  and  Christ  and  the 
great  salvation  fill  the  soul ;  and  those  who 
are  thus  exercised  do  indeed  find  trouble 
and  sorrow.  Those  only  who  have  been  led 
by  paths  that  they  have  not  known,  through 
the  mire  and  marshes  of  skepticism,  to  build 
on  the  "  sure  foundation,"  can  sympathize 
with  the  desolateness  and  self-crushing  which 
result  from  such  leadings.  But  the  end  of 
all  this  is  our  confirmation.  And  when  we 
have  such  experience,  it  tends  to  drive  us 
out  of  ourselves  and  make  us  build  more 
firmly  on  the  unchanging  and  everlasting 


THE  PATH  OF  STRENGTH.  35 

foundation,  "  Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yester- 
day, to-day,  and  for  ever." 

Not  a  few  of  the  most  eminent  Christians, 
as  well  as  able  divines,  have  been  allowed  to 
get  bemazed  in  perplexity  and  doubt  about 
one  or  other  of  the  precious  doctrines  of 
Jehovah's  Word ;  and  they  have  been  led 
to  examine  the  Scriptures  more  thoroughly 
on  that  very  account ;  and  the  result  has 
been  their  entire  conviction  of  the  truthful- 
ness of  all  the  utterances  of  the  God  of  truth ; 
and  some  of  them  have  been  so  fully  im- 
pressed with  the  truth  of  the  great  things  of 
God's  law,  that  they  have  written  for  the 
confirmation  of  the  faith  of  others.  One 
who  was  once  tossed  upon  the  billows  of 
tormenting  doubt  with  regard  to  the  son- 
ship  and  divinity  of  our  blessed  Lord,  thus 
writes:  —  "He  consciously  stood  upon  a 
gulf,  the  depths  of  which  were  enveloped  in 
the  shadow  of  death.  Arianism  had  been 
his  next  resting-place ;  and  that  he  had  suf- 


36        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

ficient  self-distrust  to  regard  as  a  break 
merely  in  the  fall  to  deeper  and  more  dead- 
ly error.  He  at  length  turned  to  the  point 
from  which  he  ought  to  have  set  out,  and 
with  a  firm  resolution  to  rest  satisfied  with 
nothing  short  of  a  complete  investigation, 
he  examined  and  classified  every  passage  of 
Scripture  which  seemed  to  pertain  to  the 
subject.  Thus  was  the  present  work  orig- 
inated ;  *  and  it  eventually  proved  perfectly 
adequate  to  his  own  conviction.  Nothing 
short  of  the  discomfort  and  perplexity  here 
described  would  have  induced  him  to  offer 
his  aid  to  the  researches  of  others."  Thus 
did  the  Lord  lead  this  servant  of  his  in  paths 
that  he  had  not  known  —  painful,  perplex- 
ing paths  —  to  a  well-grounded  belief  of  one 
of  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  revelation,  and 
to  the  production  of  an  unparalleled  work 
on  the  divine  sonship  of  Jesus,  for  the  con- 
firmation of  his  church  !     How  truly  may 

*  Treffrey  on  the  Eternal  Sonship. 


THE  PATH  OF  STRENGTH.  37 

the  Lord  say  to  us,  "  My  thoughts  are  not 
your  thoughts,  neither  are  your  ways  my 
ways,  saith  the  Lord.  For  as  the  heavens 
are  higher  than  the  earth,  so  are  my  ways 
higher  than  your  ways,  and  my  thoughts 
than  your  thoughts  !  " 

But  it  is  not  Hkely  that  many  have  been 
troubled  in  such  a  way  as  was  the  minister 
just  referred  to,  or  led  by  the  paths  of  doubt 
regarding  the  doctrines  of  grace ;  but  you 
may  have  been  led  by  paths  that  you  found 
perplexing  and  painful,  to  bring  you  to  a 
settled  "  peace  in  believing."  Though  you 
may  not  have  doubted  God's  sincerity,  you 
may  have  frequently  doubted  your  own. 
Though  you  believed  that  all  he  has  said  in 
his  Word  of  Jesus  and  of  his  own  love  and 
grace  was  true,  yet  you  may  have  had  many 
sad  questionings  whether  it  was  true  to  you. 
There  are  some  who  have  this  experience 
for  years ;  and  they  are  sorely  tried  and 
tempted.      Sometimes   they  have   hope,   at 


38        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

other  times  fear.  Sometimes  tliey  think 
they  observe  the  streaks  of  the  dawn  of  day, 
but  at  other  times  they  are  enveloped  in  the 
darkness  of  midnight.  One  who  was  long- 
in  this  unhappy  state  once  said  to  me,  "  I 
find  now  that  though  it  was  a  painful  way 
by  which  the  Lord  led  me  to  Jesus,  it  was 
the  best  way  ;  and  my. experience  is,  that  a 
great  fight  is  the  precursor  of  a  great  vic- 
tory." That  Christian  is  now  a  simple  be- 
liever in  Jesus,  and  has  no  doubt  of  being 
"  accepted  in  the  Beloved."  But  the  way 
to  that  confirmed  faith  and  settled  peace  lay 
through  the  region  of  difficulties,  fightings, 
questionings,  and  fears.  If  you  are  thus  led 
by  God  (and  I  do  not  say  that  you  must  be 
thus  led,  —  some  may  be,  others  may  not), 
rest  not  satisfied  till  you  see  the  end  of  the 
Lord ;  for  he  is  "  very  pitiful,  and  of  tender 
mercy."  "A  bruised  reed  shall  he  not 
break,  and  the  smoking  flax  shall  he  not 
quench.     The  Lord  raiseth  them  that  are 


THE  FATH  OF  STRENGTH.  39 

bowed  down."  It  is  well  to  examine  our- 
selves whether  we  be  in  the  faith.  And  the 
Lord  sometimes  leads  us  to  engage  in  this 
exercise  by  unlooked-for  means.  Our  strong, 
clear  views  of  Jesus  as  a  Saviour  become 
beclouded  by  sin  ;  oar  joy,  peace,  hope,  love, 
and  zeal  lose  much  of  their  intensity ;  and 
we  begin  to  fear  lest  we  may  have  been  de- 
ceiving ourselves.  You  may  be  sometimes 
writing  bitter  things  against  yourself,  and 
saying,  "  Ah !  surely  I  am  not  a  child  of 
God  at  all ;  for  where  is  my  zeal  for  his 
glory  ?  where  my  holiness,  my  love  to  Jesus, 
my  faith,  my  works,  and  labors  of  love? 
Were  I  his,  surely  I  would  hate  and  shun 
sin  far  more  than  I  do ;  I  would  live  more 
believingly,  walk  more  tenderly,  pray  more 
fervently,  work  more  devotedly,  and  speak 
more  guardedly ;  I  would  not  have  these 
dark  clouds  coming  over  me,  these  unbe- 
lieving thoughts  rising  up  within  me,  these 
cold    damps    overspreading    my    soul,   and 


40         THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

these  dreadftil  corruptions  weltering  within 
me."  Ah  !  dear  soul,  be  encouraged ;  the 
Lord  may  be  leading  you,  in  all  your  blind- 
ness, in  paths  that  you  have  not  known. 
The  unconverted  do  not  know  auo;ht  of 
those  struggles  through  which  you  have 
passed,  or  may  be  even  now  passing.  They 
know  nothing  of  "  the  new  man"  laboring 
for  the  ascendency.  The  Lord  may  be 
graciously  leading  you  to  a  confirmed  faith 
and  a  more  devoted  service.  But  oh,  take 
care  that  you  do  not  rest  in  this  experience, 
but  press  on  tow^ard  the  mark !  Christian 
experience  is  mere  shifting  sand.     Christ  is 

"  THE    ROCK." 

Dear  reader,  if  you  have  been  led  in  paths 
of  confirmation  which  you  have  not  known, 
then  give  God  all  the  praise,  and  say  to  him, 
"  I  will  love  thee,  O  Lord,  my  strength. 
The  Lord  is  my  rock  and  my  fortress,  and 
my  deliverer ;  my  God,  my  strength,  in 
whom  I  will   trust ;    my  buckler,  and  the 


THE  PATH  OF  STRENGTH.  41 

horn  of  my  salvation,  and  my  high  tower. 
I  will  call  upon  the  Lord,  who  is  worthy  to 
be  praised ;  so  sliall  I  be  saved  from  mine 
enemies." 

Pray  also  that  God's  Spirit  may  give  you 
a  fuller  discovery  of  your  own  unspeakable 
sinfulness  and  vileness  in  his  holy  eyes,  and 
so  lead  you  that  you  will  be  made  much 
holier  than  you  now  are,  and  more  thorough- 
ly rooted  and  built  up  in  Christ,  and  stab- 
lished  in  the  faith.  May  he  even  now  de- 
scend upon  you,  "•  to  the  end  he  may  stablish 
your  hearts  unblamable  in  holiness  before 
God,  even  our  Father,  at  the  coming  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  all  his  saints." 

Jesus,  while  this  rough  desert-soil 
I  tread,  be  thou  my  guide  and  stay ; 

Nerve  me  for  conflict  and  for  toil ; 
Uphold  me  on  my  stranger-way. 

Jesus,  in  heaviness  and  fear, 

'Mid  cloud,  and  gloom,  and  shade  I  stray, 
For  earth's  last  night  is  drawing  near ; 

Oh  cheer  me  in  my  stranger  way. 


42        THE  PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

Jesus,  in  solitude  and  grief, 

When  sun  and  stars  withhold  their  ray. 
Make  haste,  make  haste  to  my  relief; 

Oh,  light  me  on  my  stranger-way. 

Jesus,  in  weakness  of  this  flesh, 

When  Satan  grasps  me  for  his  prey ; 

Oh,  give  me  victory  afresh. 

And  speed  me  on  my  stranger-way. 

Jesus,  my  righteousness  and  strength, 
My  more  than  life,  my  more  than  day ; 

Bring,  bring  deliverance  at  length,  — 
Oh,  come  and  end  my  stranger-way. 


^^c^ 


i/; 


IV. 

THE     PATH     OF     COMFORT. 

S  tlie  sufferings  of  Christ  abound  in 
us,  so  our  consolation  also  aboundeth 
by  Christ ;  for  whether  we  be  af- 
flicted, it  is  for  your  consolation 
and  salvation ;  or  whether  we  be 
comforted,  it  is  for  your  consolation  and  sal- 
vation. And  our  hope  of  you  is  steadfast, 
knowing  that  as  ye  are  partakers  of  the 
sufferings,  so  shall  ye  be  also  of  the  con- 
solation." The  Church  may  expect  much 
trouble  and  sorrow  here  ;  but  if  tribulation 
abound,  consolation  will  also  abound.  The 
words  of  Jesus  are  very  explicit :  "  In  the 
world  ye  shall  have  tribulation  ;  but  be .  of 

43    • 


44        THE  PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

good  clieer,  I  have  overcome  the  world." 
"  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn,  for  they  shall 
be  comforted."  The  comfort  is  sm-e ;  but 
Ave  must  be  willing  to  go  to  the  wilderness 
for  it.  The  Lord  says  of  his  spouse,  "  I  will 
allure  her  and  bring  her  into  the  wilderness, 
and  speak  comfortably  to  her ;  "  or,  as  it  is 
in  the  margin,  "  I  will  speak  to  her  heart.'^ 
It  is  said  in  Lamentations,  "  Though  he 
cause  grief,  yet  will  he  have  compassion 
according  to  the  multitude  of  his  mercies ; 
for  he  doth  not  afflict  from  his  heart.^^  But 
though  the  affliction  comes  not  from  his 
heart,  yet  the  consolation  does,  and  it  goes 
to  the  heart ;  for  he  says,  "  I  will  speak  to 
her  heart.'^''  Jesus,  the  consolation  of  Israel, 
came  to  our  world  in  the  fullness  of  time,  and 
during  all  the  period  of  his  terrestrial  sojourn 
he  was  "  the  Man  of  Sorrows."  He  knew 
such  sorrow  as  none  of  us  can  know.  He 
agonized  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  and 
expired   amid   the   anguish,   darkness,   and 


THE  PATH  OF  COMFORT.  45 

soul-crushing  sorrows  of  Calvary.  But 
when  enduring  those  sorrows,  he  was  on  his 
way  to  the  eternal  joys  that  are  at  God's 
right  hand.  And  his  experience  as  the 
Captain  of  our  salvation  must  be  expected 
by  us  if  we  are  his  followers. 

We  have  a  great  fight  of  afflictions  to 
endiu^e  before  we  enter  the  "joyous  city." 
God  sets  a  kingdom  before  us,  and  promises 
to  give  us  that  kingdom,  with  all  its  unspeak- 
able immunities  and  "  pleasures  for  ever- 
more ;  "  but  "  we  must  through  much  trib- 
ulation enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 
And  if  at  any  time,  while  on  our  way  to 
that  kingdom,  we  expect  consolation  with- 
out tribulation,  we  expect  what  is  not  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  experience  of  our  Lord  or 
his  people,  or  the  promises  of  his  blessed 
Word.  Where  does  the  Word  promise  us 
comfort  of  which  we  have  not  a  feeling  of 
need  ?  The  very'  idea  of  consolation  implies 
sorrow.     And  when  we  pray  for  much  joy 


46        THE  PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

and  comfort  at  a  time  when  every  thing  is 
going  well  with  us,  we  are  virtually  praying 
for  sorrow.  The  comfort  gets  into  the  soul 
only  by  those  openings  which  are  made  by 
grief  and  sore  affliction.  Mary  was  weep- 
ing at  the  sepulcher  when  the  gentle,  famil- 
iar voice  of  Jesus  pronounced  her  name,  and 
sent  a  thrill  of  wondrous  joy  tln-ough  her 
whole  soul ;  and  the  disciples  were  together 
mourning  and  weeping  over  the  sad  event 
of  his  crucifixion,  when  he  stood  in  their 
midst,  and  said,  "  Peace  be  unto  you,"  and 
by  his  presence  filled  their  hearts  with  "joy 
unspeakable."  It  was  after  the  Jews  had 
experienced  much  sorrow,  and  expected  to 
be  all  massacred  by  the  decree  of  wicked 
Haman,  that  they  "  had  joy  and  gladness,  a 
feast,  and  a  good  day,"  on  the  reversal  of 
that  decree.  It  was  when  Shadrach,  Me- 
shach,  and  Abednego  were  waUving  in  the 
midst  of  the  burning  fiery  furnace,  that  a 
fourth  One  was  seen  with  them,  "  like  the 


THE  PATH  OF  COMFORT.  47 

Son  of  God."  And  if  we  are  to  have  much 
consolation,  we  must  lay  our  account  with 
being  cast  into  "  the  burning  fiery  furnace." 
The  heat  of  "  the  furnace  of  affliction"  will 
be  the  measure  of  our  consolation.  If  we 
are  to  be  greatly  comforted,  we  must  be 
greatly  afflicted.  The  Lord  will  lead  us  by 
"  paths  that  we  have  not  known,"  into  try- 
ing, difficult,  heart-rending,  soul-vexing  cir- 
cumstances, that  we  may  be  made  to  feel  that 
all  earthly  sources  of  consolation  are  broken 
cisterns,  and  that  all  real  consolation  must 
be  found  in  him.  All  true  and  lasting  con- 
solation must  flow  from  himself.  And  when 
the  soul  is  first  brought  to  have  "joy  un- 
speakable," it  is  after  being  brought  very 
low  by  the  convincing  Spirit.  The  Spirit 
turns  us  to  Jesus  to  produce  both  wounding 
and  healing.  The  very  fact  of  a  Comforter 
being  promised,  implies  that  there  will  be 
need  of  his  comfort  in  the  church  of  God. 
A  comforter  sent  supposes  "  an  afflicted  peo- 


48       THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

pie"  to  be  comforted.  Let  us  not,  then, 
mistake  our  afflictions  for  calamities,  for  they 
are  not  so  ;  they  are  the  vessels  by  which 
the  Lord  pours  "the  oil  of  joy"  into  the 
spirits  of  liis  dear  afflicted  children.  When 
you  see  no  possibility  of  deliverance  from 
your  difficulties  and  afflictions,  then  the 
Lord  will  draw  near,  saying,  "J  know  their 
sorrows^  and  am  come  down  to  deliver  them; 
comfort  ye,  comfort  ye  my  people."  '•'  Man's 
extremity  is  God's  opportunity."  When 
you  know  not  what  to  do,  nor  how  to  hold 
out  any  longer  under  the  pressure  of  a  com- 
plication of  trials,  sorrows,  griefs,  anxieties, 
and  afflictions,  he  will  interpose  and  grant 
you  real  and  suitable  consolation. 

When  speaking  of  the  Lord's  dealings 
with  his  own  people  in  leading  them  by  a 
way  they  had  not  know^n,  another  has  given 
utterance  to  the  following  descriptive  and 
expressive  language :  — 

"  They  were  living  to  themselves ;    self. 


THE  PATH   OF  COMFORT.  49 

with  its  hopes,  and  promises,  and  dreams, 
had  still  hold  of  them ;  but  lie  began  to  ful- 
fill their  prayers.  They  had  asked  for  con- 
trition, and  he  sent  them  sorrow  ;  they  had 
asked  for  purity,  and  he  sent  them  thrilling 
anguish ;  they  had  asked  to  be  meek,  and 
he  had  broken  their  hearts  ;  they  had  asked 
to  be  dead  to  the  world,  and  he  slew  all 
their  living  hopes ;  they  asked  to  be  made 
like  unto  him,  and  he  placed  them  in  the 
furnace,  sitting  by  '  as  a  refiner  of  silver,' 
till  they  should  reflect  his  image ;  they  had 
asked  to  lay  hold  of  his  cross,  and  when  he 
reached  it  to  them  it  lacerated  their  hands ; 
—  they  had  asked  they  knew  not  what,  nor 
how  ;  but  he  had  taken  them  at  their  word, 
and  granted  them  all  their  petitions.  They 
were  hardly  willing  to  follow  on  so  far,  or  to 
draw  so  nigh  to  him.  They  had  upon  them 
an  awe  and  fear,  as  Jacob  at  Bethel,  or  Eli- 
phaz  in  the  night-vision,  or  as  the  aspostles 
when  they  thought  they  had  seen  a  spirit, 
4 


50  THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LOUD. 

and  knew  not  that  it  was  Jesus  ;  —  they 
could  ahiiost  pray  him  to  depart  from  them, 
or  to  hide  his  awfulness.  They  foimd  it 
easier  to  obey  than  to  suffer,  to  do  than  to 
give  up,  to  bear  the  cross  than  to  hang  upon 
it ;  but  they  can  not  go  back,  for  they  have 
come  too  near  the  unseen  cross,  and  its  vir- 
tues have  pierced  too  deeply  within  them. 
He  is  fulfilling  to  them  his  promise,  '  And  I, 
if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me.' 
Now  their  turn  is  come  at  last,  and  that  is 
all.  Before,  they  had  only  heard  of  the 
mystery,  but  now  they  feel  it.  He  has 
fastened  on  them  his  look  of  love,  as  he  did 
on  Mary  and  Peter,  and  they  can  not  choose 
but  follow.  Little  by  little,  from  time  to 
time,  by  flitting  gleams,  the  mystery  of  his 
cross  shines  out  upon  them.  They  behold 
him  as  lifted  up,  and  the  glory  which  rays 
forth  from  the  wounds  of  his  holy  passion  ; 
and  as  they  gaze  upon  it,  they  advance,  and 
are  changed  into  his  likeness,  and  his  name 


THE  PATH  OF  COMFORT.  51 

shines  out  through  them,  for  he  dwells  in 
them.  They  live  alone  with  him  above  in 
unspeakable  fellowship,  wilhng  to  lack  what 
others  own,  and  to  be  unlike  all,  so  that  they 
are  only  like  him.  Such  are  they  in  all 
ages  who  follow  the  Lamb  whithersoever  he 
goeth.  Had  they  chosen  for  themselves,  or 
had  their  friends  chosen  for  them,  they  would 
have  chosen  otherwise.  They  would  have 
been  brighter  here,  but  less  glorious  in  his 
kingdom.  They  would  have  had  Lot's  por- 
tion, not  Abraham's,  if  they  had  halted  any 
where,  —  if  he  had  taken  off  his  hand  and 
let  them  stray  back.  And  what  would  they 
not  have  lost !  What  forfeits  in  the  morn- 
ing of  the  resurrection !  But  he  stayed 
them  up,  even  against  themselves.  Many 
a  time  their  foot  had  well-nigh  slipped  ;  but 
he  in  mercy  held  them  up.  Now,  even  in 
this  life,  they  know  all  he  did  was  done  well. 
It  was  good  for  them  to  stand  alone  with 
him  on  the  mountain  and  in  the  cloud,  and 


52        TUE  PATHS   OF   THE   LOUD. 

that   not  their  will    but    his  was    done    on 
them." 

The  Lord  knoweth  how  to  deliver  the 
godly  out  of  temptations  and  troubles  ;  there- 
fore fear  none  of  those  things  which  thou 
shalt  suffer.  Do  not  be  in  anxious  haste  to 
extricate  yourself  from  trouble,  when  you 
are  led  into  it  by  following  Jesus.  Though 
the  tempest  rage,  and  the  sea  roar  with  the 
fullness  thereof,  be  not  afraid  ;  Jesus  is  in 
the  ship,  and  it  is  in  no  danger  of  sinking. 
Your  enjoyment  of  himself,  the  wonder- 
working Immanuel,  will  be  all  the  greater 
that  you  have  seen  him  speak  the  winds 
and  waves  to  silence,  and  produce  "  a  great 
calm."  Do  not  be  seeking  after  a  short- 
hand method  of  consolation  ;  there  is  no 
way  of  procuring  it  but  by  waiting  patiently 
for  the  Lord's  interference.  Give  yourself 
wholly  into  the  hands  of  God,  for  good  or 
for  evil,  for  health  or  sickness,  for  sorrow  or 
joy,  for  affliction   or  consolation  ;    and  you 


THE  PATH   OF  COMFORT.  53 

will  soon  be  able  to  say,  with  holy  Paul, 
"  We  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God : 
and  not  only  so,  but  we  glory  in  tribula- 
tions also  ;  knowing  that  tribulation  worketh 
patience ;  and  patience,  experience ;  and 
experience,  hope ;  and  hope  maketh  not 
ashamed,  because  the  love  of  God  is  shed 
abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
which  is  given  unto  us."  ''  Now  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  himself,  and  God,  even  our 
Father,  who  hath  loved  us  and  hath  given 
us  everlastiyig  consolation  and  good  hope 
through  grace,  comfort  your  hearts  and 
stablish  you  in  every  good  word  and  work." 
Amen. 

Till  from  the  straw  the  flail  the  corn  doth  beat, 
Until  the  chaff  be  pui-ged  from  the  wheat, 
Yea,  till  the  mill  the  grains  in  pieces  tear. 
The  riches  of  the  flour  will  scarce  appear. 
So,  till  men's  persons  great  afilictions  touch. 
If  worth  be  found,  their  worth  is  not  so  much ; 
Because,  like  wheat  in  straw,  they  have  not  yet 
That  value  which  in  threshing  thej'  may  get. 


64        THE  PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

For,  till  the  bruising  flails  of  God's  corrections 
Have  threshed  out  of  us  our  vain  affections,  — 
Till  those  corruptions  which  do  misbecome  us 
Are  by  thy  sacred  Spirit  winnowed  from  us,  — 
Until  from  us  the  straw  of  worldly  treasures,  — 
Till  all  the  dusty  chaff  of  empty  pleasures,  — 
Yea,  till  his  flail  upon  us  he  doth  lay, 
To  thresh  the  husk  of  this  our  flesh  away, 
And  leave  the  soul  uncovered,  —  nay,  yet  more. 
Till  God  shall  make  our  very  spirit  poor. 
We  shall  not  up  to  highest  wealth  aspire  : 
But  then  we  shall;  and  that  is  my  desire. 


■^  -r  "v*H' 


THE     PATH     OF     SERVICE. 

)F  you  would  be  Christ's  at  all^  you  must 
make  up  your  mind  to  be  Christ's  al- 
to getlier.  He  said,  when  on  earth,  "If 
any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him 
deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross 
and  follow  me."  Neither  father  nor  mother, 
wife  nor  children,  brethren  nor  sisters,  houses 
nor  lands,  must  be  allowed  to  come  between 
you  and  entire  devotedness  to  Jesus.  He 
would  have  you  to  be  wholly  his,  and  to  be 
unreservedly  devoted  to  his  service,  —  will- 
ing to  be  any  thing,  do  any  thing,  and  go 
any  where  for  the  advancement  of  his  cause. 
He  would  have  you  be  in  that  woman's  con- 

55 


56        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

dition,  of  whom  he  said,  "  She  hath  done 
what  she  could. ''^ 

You  desire  this.  You  pray  for  it,  and 
pant  after  it,  and  you  think  that  you  are 
quite  wilKng  to  be  thoroughly  consecrated 
to  Jesus ;  but  you  feel  as  if  you  could  not 
attain  to  it.  There  may  be  hindrances  to 
entu'e  consecration  lurking  about  you,  of 
which  you  are  unconscious ;  and  the  Lord 
has  to  bring  you  by  an  unlooked-for  way, 
and  lead  you  in  paths  you  have  not  known, 
to  make  you  aware  of  these  hindrances,  and 
to  make  you  part  with  them,  and  serve  him 
with  your  Avliole  heart  and  life.  Holiness, 
in  one  of  its  aspects,  is  just  devoted  service. 
But  your  mind  may  be  too  much  occupied 
with  self  or  the  world,  and  all  the  time  you 
may  be  unconscious  of  it ;  and  if  so,  you 
will  likely  get  self  crushed  by  some  very 
humbling  circumstance,  and  have  the  world 
very  much  swept  away  from  you,  before  you 
discover  those  secret  sins  which  mar  your 


THE   PATH  OF  SERVICE.  57 

service.  Or,  you  may  have  your  mind  un- 
duly set  on  those  tliat  are  dear  to  your 
heart,  and  they  may  have  to  be  removed, — 
it  may  be  to  a  sick-room,  or  to  the  silent 
grave. 

Temporal  losses,  afflictions,  difficulties, 
bereavements,  crosses,  disappointments,  and 
many  other  apparently  adverse  providences, 
are  but  love-tokens  of  the  great  Shepherd 
of  Israel,  and  unmistakable  indications  of 
his  holy  and  gracious  determination  to  make 
his  people  devote  themselves  unreservedly  to 
his  ennobling  service,  that  in  promoting  his 
glory  they  may  obtain  the  highest  possible 
happiness. 

The  Lord  also  leads  his  people  "  in  paths 
they  have  not  known"  with  reference  to  the 
hind  of  service  in  which  they  are  to  be  em- 
ployed. The  wild  youth  of  Bedford  is  ar- 
rested, convinced,  converted,  and,  Avithout 
much  human  learning,  becomes  one  of  the 
greatest  preachers  of  his  time.     As  the  poet 


58  THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

is  born,  not  made,  so  is  tlie  preacher ;  and 
Bunyan  appeared  to  be  a  real  Heaven-sent 
preacher,  for  his  ministry  was  one  of  power. 
But  yet  the  Lord  led  him  away  into  Bedford 
jail,  where  he  lay  "mouth  stopped"  for  a 
dozen  of  years,  that  he  might  construct  his 
immortal  allegory,  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress." 
Some  have  thus  been  led  into  the  writer's 
seclusion  by  God,  even  when,  to  the  eye  of 
human  wisdom,  they  should  have  been  in 
the  preacher's  pulpit.  There  are  many  liv- 
ing examples  of  this  peculiarity  in  the  lead- 
ings of  the  Lord.  Let  us  be  willing  to 
preach  or  print,  as  God  may  judge  best. 
"  The  foolishness  of  God  is  wiser  than 
men." 

More  than  sixty  years  ago,  two  gay  young 
men  —  one  of  them  an  officer  in  the  British 
navy  —  were  converted  to  Christ,  and  were 
led  to  Calvary,  and  formed  into  soldiers  of 
the  cross  ;  and  all  Scotland  now  reveres  the 
memory  of  the  Haldanes,  and  speaks  of  them 


THE   PATH  OF  SERVICE.  59 

as  the  pioneers  of  that  blessed  tide  of  evan- 
gelism which  has  been  gradually  rising  in 
that  "land  of  the  mountain  and  the  flood" 
for  more  than  half  a  century. 

Twenty  years  ago  the  name  of  William 
Burns  was  known  throughout  a  great  part 
of  Scotland,  in  connection  with  the  revival 
of  religion  and  the  awakening  and  conver- 
sion of  souls.  Five  years  later  he  could  not 
preach  at  all.  God  appeared  to  shut  his 
mouth,  so  that  he  had  no  power  or  liberty 
to  preach  the  gospel  in  his  native  land  ;  and 
he  was  led  to  China,  where  the  Lord  has 
again  graciously  opened  his  lips,  and  enabled 
him  to  speak  to  the  Chinese,  in  their  own 
tongue,  of  "  the  wondeiiul  works  of  God  ;  " 
and  the  same  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
accompanying  his  preaching  in  the  "  Celes- 
tial Empire,"  and  the  same  effects  are  vis- 
ible as  when  he  first  proclaimed  "  the  un- 
searchable riches  of  Christ "  in  this  country. 
The  mouths  of  many  who  once  were  sue- 


60        THE  PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

cessful  in  winning  souls  appear  to  be  closed. 
Is  it  not  time  for  such  to  consider  the  pro- 
priety of  waiting  upon  the  Lord  for  another 
sphere  of  labor  ?  Why  not  follow  "  the 
leadino;s  of  the  Lord  ?  " 

Robert  M'Cheyne  proposed  to  go  out  as  a 
missionary  to  the  heathen  ;  but  the  Lord 
did  not  permit  him,  but  led  him  to  St.  Pe- 
ter's Church,  Dundee,  and  through  his  in- 
strumentality greatly  revived  his  work  in 
that  large  and  populous  town,  and,  by  his 
preaching  ot  Jesus,  converted  many  souls. 
And  by  the  beautiful  "  Memoirs  and  Re- 
mains," he  is  still  speaking  with  spirit-mov- 
ing power  in  the  minister's  study  and  at  the 
believer's  fireside.  Reader,  be  satisfied  with 
the  Lord's  arrangements  with  reference  to 
your  service,  for  they  are  always  the  best. 
Be  any  thing,  do  any  thing,  and  go  any 
where,  as  the  Lord  may  teach  and  lead 
you. 

Dr.  Kitto  was  once  a  poor  slater  boy ;  but 


THE  PATH  OF  SFAiVWE.  61 

by  a  fall  from  a  roof  he  was  led  into  the 
work-house,  injured  and  deaf,  and  was  led 
out  to  a  literary  life  devoted  to  the  elucida- 
tion and  illustration  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
Reader,  perhaps,  in  a  spiritual  sense,  you 
need  a  fall,  to  make  you  mighty  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  useful  in  expounding  them  to 
others. 

George  Miiller,  of  Kroppenstaedt,  when 
converted  to  Christ,  about  thirty-five  years 
ago,  determined  to  qualify  himself  as  a  mis- 
sionary to  the  Jews  ;  hwt  the  Lord  led  him 
to  Bristol,  to  become  a  blessing  to  Gentile 
orphans,  and  an  example  of  "  the  life  of 
faith"  to  the  Christian  church.  Besides 
preaching  the  gospel  and  engaging  in  other 
labors,  he  now  supports,  in  that  city,  an  in- 
stitution for  the  maintenance  and  education 
of  about  eight  hundred  orphans,  without 
having  a  penny  of  his  own,  and  without  ask- 
ing any  one  for  money,  —  simply  by  prayer 
and  faith ;  and  the  Lord,  who  has  led  him 


62        THE   PATHS   OF   THE  LORD. 

into  tliis  service,  has  sustained  him  in  it  for 
about  twenty-five  years  ;  and  He  is  still  his 
"  hope  and  confidence."  He  has  received 
for  his  orphans,  as  the  result  of  prayer  to 
Grod,  since  the  commencement  of  the  work, 
about  £150,000.  Reader,  shrink  not  from 
any  service  for  the  Lord,  though  it  may 
appear  secular.  If  done  for  Christ's  sake, 
every  deed  is  sacred.  According  to  the 
"  holy  George  Herbert,"  even  "  di'udgery  " 
becomes  "  divine "  when  undertaken  from 
love  to  Jesus. 

Mrs.  Judson,  in  her  narrative  of  the  cap- 
tivity of  her  husband,  and  her  own  efforts 
and  sufferings  on  his  account,  has  the  fol- 
lowing :  —  "A  review  of  our  trip  to,  and 
adventures  in,  Ava,  often  excites  the  in- 
quiry. Why  were  we  permitted  to  go  ? 
What  good  has  been  effected  f  .  .  .  .  Two 
years  of  precious  time  have  been  lost  to  the 
mission — unless  some  future  advantage  may 
he  gained  —  in    consequence  of  the  severe 


THE  PATH  OF  SERVICE.  (58 

discipline  to  which  we  ourselves  have  been 
subject.  But  all  that  we  can  say  is,  It  is 
not  in  man  that  walketh  to  direct  Ms  steps.'''' 
She  appears  to  have  seen  no  reason  why 
they  should  have  had  to  pass  through  such 
a  painful  ordeal ;  but  I  believe  that  both  she 
and  Dr.  Judson  know  it  now ;  and  I  tliink 
I  know  it  too,  —  at  least  in  one  of  its  phases. 
It  so  happened  that  the  writer's  wife's  uncle 
was  unintentionally  the  originating  cause  of 
Dr.  Judson's  imprisonment.  This  is  men- 
tioned in  the  narrative  as  follows  :  —  "A 
report  was  in  circulation  that  Captain  Laird, 
lately  arrived,  had  brought  Bengal  papers 
which  contained  the  intention  of  the  Eng- 
lish to  take  Rangoon,  and  it  was  kept  a 
secret  from  his  majesty.  An  inquiry  was 
instituted.  The  three  Englishmen,  Gouger, 
Laird,  and  Rogers,  were  called  and  exam- 
ined. It  was  found  that  they  had  seen  the 
papers,  and  they  were  put  in  confinement. 
Next  followed  the  examination  of  the  Ameri- 


64        THE   PATHS   OF   THE  LORD. 

can  missionaries,  and,  though  they  were  not 
immediately  arrested,  they  were  so  in  a  short 
time  thereafter,  on  the  suspicion  that  they 
were  in  the  pay  of  the  EngHsh,  and  proba- 
bly spies.  The  English  and  the  Americans 
were,  consequently,  thrust  into  the  same 
fearful  prison  at  Ava ;  and,  subsequently, 
tied  two  and  two,  they  were  driven  on  to- 
gether, over  the  burning  sands,  to  the  prison 
of  Oung-pen-la,  at  a  distance  of  some  miles. 
Mr.  Judson  was  then  laboring  under  fever, 
and  could  ill  bear  such  a  fiery  ordeal.  The 
temperature  was  above  one  hundred  degrees. 
The  sand  and  gravel  were  like  burning  coals 
to  the  feet  of  the  prisoners,  wdiich  soon  be- 
came perfectly  destitute  of  skin,  and  in  this 
wretched  state  they  were  goaded  on  by  their 
unfeehng  drivers.  Mr.  Judson's  debilitated 
state,  in  consequence  of  fever,  and  having 
taken  no  food  that  morning,  rendered  him 
less  capable  of  bearing  such  hardships  than 
the  other  prisoners.     When  about  half  way 


THE  PATH  OF  SERVICE.  65 

on  their  journey,  as  they  stopped  for  water, 
Mr.  Judson  begged  of  the  lamine-woon  to 
allow  him  to  ride  his  horse  a  mile  or  two,  as 
he  could  proceed  no  further  in  that  dreadful 
state.  But  a  scornful,  malignant  look  was 
all  the  reply  that  was  made.  He  then  re- 
quested Captain  Laird,  who  was  tied  with 
him^  and  who  was  a  strong,  healthy  man,  to 
allow  him  to  take  hold  of  his  shoulder,  as  he 
was  fast  sinking.  This  the  kind-hearted 
man  granted  for  a  mile  or  two,  but  then 
found  the  additional  burden  unsupportable." 
It  thus  appears,  from  Mrs.  Judson's  account, 
that  Dr.  Judson  and  Captain  Laird  were 
tied  together  in  this  horrid  march  to  Oung- 
pen-la  ;  and,  doubtless,  they  were  close  to 
each  other,  if  not  chained  together,  when 
there.  And  could  the  godly  missionary  be 
so  near  a  godless  merchant  and  not  seek  his 
spiritual  welfare,  by  unfolding  to  him  the 
value  of  the  pearl  of  great  price  ?  No,  all 
the  severe  tri£|,ls  of  the  missionary  did  not 


G6        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LOUD. 

make  liim  forget  to  devote  himself  to  his  pe- 
cuHar  work  of  winning  souls,  even  when  in 
"  the  inner  prison,  with  his  feet  fast  in  the 
stocks."  He  conversed  with  his  fellow-pris- 
oner, and  in  his  ph3^sical  captivity  showed 
him  the  faithful  saying  that  "  Christ  Jesus 
came  into  the  Avorld  to  save  sinners,"  and 
deliver  from  the  more  dreadful  yoke  of  a 
spiritual  bondage.  It  does  not  appear  that 
the  truth  had  taken  immediate  effect  on 
Captain  Laird's  mind  ;  but  the  seed  of  the 
Word  had  found  a  lodgment  in  his  heart, 
and,  if  he  w^as  not  then  converted,  that 
truth  afterwards  sprang  up  and  bore  fruit 
unto  holiness.  For,  when  he  was  thrown 
into  prison,  he  was  in  good  worldly  circum- 
stances ;  but  when  he  was  liberated,  he  found 
that  almost  his  entire  property,  to  tlie  value 
of  X  30,000,  had  been  destroyed  (and  he 
had  no  good  reason  to  expect  that  any  com- 
pensation would  be  granted),  and  he  who 
had  been  successful  in  business,  and  con- 


THE  PATH  OF  SERVICE.  67 

nected  with  tlie  Burmese  nobility  by  mar- 
riage,  and  on  terms  of  familiarity  with  the 
Burman  court,  found  himself  emerging  from 
the  horrors  of  captivity  to  endure  the  equal- 
ly mortifying  horrors  of  misfortune.  To  a 
man  who  had  spent  the  best  period  of  his 
life  in  the  prosecution  of  successful  commer- 
cial enterprise,  and  who  had  been  the  archi- 
tect  of  his  own  fortune,  sucli  a  reverse  of 
circumstances  and  loss  of  position  must  have 
come  with  the  keenest  poignancy.  Then, 
when  he  was  a  ruined  man,  did  he  have  the 
favoring  circumstances  for  meditating  on 
what  his  devoted  fellow-prisoner  had  taught 
him  in  the  horrid  dungeons  of  the  cruel 
Burman  despot.  He  became,  eventually, 
an  altered  man  ;  and  the  tcme  and  matter 
of  his  letters  to  his  relatives  in  Scotland 
became  completely  changed.  He  wrote 
"beautiful  letters,"  we  are  told,  —  letters 
full  of  the  "great  salvation,"  and  of  solemn 
warning  to  those  near  and  dear  to  him,  tell- 


68        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LOUD. 

ing  them  plainly  and  affectionately  that  it 
would  profit  them  nothing  although  they 
should  gain  the  whole  world,  if  they  lost 
their  own  souls,  and  imploring  them  to  be 
reconciled  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ. 
He  wrote  with  the  utmost  respect  for  Dr. 
Judson,  and  ascribed  the  great  change  that 
he  had  experienced  to  the  kind  instruction 
in  divine  things  which  he  had  received  from 
his  lips  in  the  dark  days  of  their  "  sore 
bondage."  I  do  not  believe  that  Dr.  Jud- 
son ever  knew  that  he  had  been  the  means 
of  leading  him  to  turn  to  the  Lord,  nor  do 
I  know  whether  he  had  any  intercourse 
with  him  after  the  period  of  their  liber- 
ation. It  is  not  likely.  After  his  death, 
when  his  friends  wrote  to  Dr.  Judson,  ask- 
ing if  he  could  give  them  any  particulars 
about  their  relative's  last  days,  he  replied 
that  he  could  not ;  but  he  said  that  the  last 
time  he  was  in  Rangoon,  he  saw  a  funeral 
passing  along  the  street,  and  on  inquiring 


THE  PATH  OF  SERVICE.  69 

whose  it  was,  he  was  iiifbriiied  it  was  that 
of  his  former  fellow-prisoner,  Captain  Laird. 
"  Why  ivere  tve  permitted  to  go  ?  what  good 
has  been  effected?''''  are  questions  which  ap- 
peared to  stagger  faith  at  that  time ;  but 
now  that  the  missionaries  have  ceased  from 
their  labors  and  gone  to  their  reward,  these 
questions  appear,  to  some  extent,  to  have 
their  answer  m  the  narration  we  have  just 
given.  And  as  there  may  be  many  of  God's 
beloved  servants  passing  through  fiery  trials 
for  the  endurance  of  which  they  may  not  be 
able  to  see  any  immediate  result,  such  as 
would  seem  to  be  intended  by  them,  we 
would  kindly  counsel  them  not  to  be  too 
hasty  in  concluding  that  the  period  occupied 
in  passing  through  such  trials  has  been 
"time  lost  to  the  mission"  for  God  their 
Saviour,  which  they  have  given  themselves 
to  prosecute.  Heavy  trials,  severe  afflic^ 
tions,  crushing  circumstances,  the  alienation 
of  friends,  distressing  misapprehensions  of 


70        THE  PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

the  cliurch,  the  bitter  persecution  of  the 
world,  embarrassing  pecuniary  troubles,  and 
all  that  tends  to  depress  the  mind,  lacerate 
the  feelings,  burden  the  soul,  and  incumber 
the  circumstances,  may  be  experienced  by 
those  that  are  dear  to  God  and  devoted  to 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  souls  ;  and  they  may 
be  apt  to  say.  If  the  Lord  be  for  us,  and  if 
we  are  to  be  employed  in  his  service,  and 
used  for  the  promotion  of  his  cause  and 
glory,  why  are  these  things  permitted  to 
come  upon  us,  and  wherefore  are  we  kept  in 
"  the  depths  "  of  trouble  ?  But  let  God's 
dear  people  learn  to  be  still,  and  know  that 
he  is  the  all- wise  God,  and  that  he  never 
does  any  thing  with  them  without  having  a 
purpose  to  serve  by  it.  In  such  painful  cir- 
cumstances, when  we  can  get  no  light  upon 
the  way  God  is  taking  with  us,  let  us  sub- 
mit cheerfully  to  all  his  arrangements,  and 
listen  with  child-like  meekness  to  his  salu- 
tary teaching,  when  he  says,  ^'  I  will  bring 


THE  PATH  OF  SERVICE  71 

the  blind  by  a  way  they  knew  not ;  I  will 
lead  them  in  paths  that  they  have  not 
known ;  I  will  make  darkness  light  before 
them,  and  crooked  things  straight.  These 
things  will  I  do  unto  them,  and  not  forsake 
them." 

"  Holy  brethren,"  have  you  not  been  led 
to  engage  in  service  of  which  you  little 
thoucrht  ?  And  have  not  some  of  you  been 
led  —  much  against  your  feelings,  incHna- 
tions,  early  prejudices,  and  to  your  worldly 
disadvantage  —  to  engage  in  some  depart- 
ment of  the  Lord's  work  ?  All  of  us  who 
have  come  through  certain  departments  of 
deep  Christian  experience  have  been  led  to 
do  many  things  quite  opposite  to  Avhat  we 
intended  to  do  ;  and  we  ha\'e  had  a  rich 
blessing  in  yielding  to  the  evident  leadings 
of  the  Lord.  Endeavor  to  know  God's  will 
by  studying  his  Word,  observing  his  provi- 
dence, and  considering  the  promptings  of  his 
Spirit  within  you  when  asking  counsel   at 


72        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

the  throne  of  grace ;  and,  liaving  ascertained 
his  will  with  reference  to  your  service^  do  it 
at  all  hazards,  and  at  any  sacrifice.  He 
gave  his  Son  for  you,  and  jou  must  hold 
yourselves  in  readiness  even  to  die  for  him, 
if  you  would  show  yourselves  truly  and 
wholly  devoted  to  his  service  and  the  pro- 
motion of  his  glory.  "  Ye  are  not  your 
own  ;  for  ye  are  hought  with  a  price :  there- 
fore glorify  God  in  your  body  and  in  your 
spirit,  which  are  God's." 


e^' 


^   rx^Ati  Ll^^>n   6^1 


VI. 

THE     PATH     OF     LIGHT. 

ROVIDENCE  is  an  admirable  ex- 
positor of  revelation.  The  Bible, 
."^^  like  the  sun,  remains  stationary ; 
and  we,  like  the  earth,  in  being 
moved  round  it,  are  enlightened. 
Or,  to  employ  another  figure,  the  Bible, 
hung  up,  like  some  well-painted  portrait, 
upon  the  great  wall  of  Time,  follows  us  with 
its  lustrous  eye  in  all  our  movements.  We 
are  instructed  in  divine  truth,  and  enlight- 
ened "  in  all  spiritual  knowledge  and  under- 
stanchng,"  by  being  put  upon  an  ever  shift- 
ing plane  of  observation  by  the  providence 
of  God.  Just  as  an  ever-varying  landscape 
is  exhibited  to  the  passengers  in  a  railway 

73 


74        THE  PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

train  as  it  proceeds  on  its  iron-pathway,  so 
an  increase  of  spiritual  knowledge  is  com- 
municated to  us  as  we  are  passing  along  the 
way  of  life.  The  Lord  has  graciously  given 
a  revelation  of  himself,  and  promises  like- 
wise to  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  make  it 
known  ;  but  he  has  also  ordained  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  its  A^arious  parts  are 
likely  to  make  the  deepest  impression ;  and 
it  is  made  "spirit"  and  "life"  to  the  soul 
only  through  that  particular  medium.  We 
well  know  that  at  certain  times,  when  all 
is  running  smooth,  we  may  read  much 
of  the  Word  of  God,  and  yet  but  a  small 
part,  if  any,  of  it  fixes  itself  in  our  minds, 
or  passes  like  a  transfusion  through  our 
souls,  and  no  good  impression  whatever  is 
made  upon  our  hearts ;  but  as  the  beauties 
of  the  verdant  hills  are  brought  out  by  the 
overpassing  clouds,  so  the  truths  of  Holy 
Scripture  are  brought  out  by  the  trying- 
providences  which  pass    over  us.      Luther 


THE  PATH  OF  LIGHT.  75 

placed  "  temptations  "  or  trials  amon«^  those 
things  which  made  a  minister,  by  opening 
to  him  the  hidden  mysteries  of  divine  truth. 
And,  verily,  the  reformer  was  right.  Af- 
flictions, temptations,  and  trials  are  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  the  formation  of  that 
pure  perce]Dtive  state  of  mind  which  enables 
a  minister  or  a  private  Christian  to  appre- 
hend the  real  spirit  and  bearing  of  the  Word 
of  God.  Trying  providences  are  frequently 
employed  as  instruments  of  conversion.  No 
providence,  however  peculiar,  can  change 
the  heart,  —  that  is  the  work  of  the  Spirit 
of  God ;  but  providences  may  be  used  as 
preparatory  to  the  great  change.  It  w^as  so 
in  the  case  of  the  late  Dr.  Chalmers,  of  un- 
dying memory.  He  began  his  ministry  in 
an  unconverted  state,  but  was  led  by  afflict- 
ive dispensations,  and  the  circumstance  of 
writing  on  Christianity  for  the  press,  to  see 
the  truths  of  the  gospel  clearly.  "  During 
the  autumn  of  the  same  year"  (1807),  says 


76        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

Mr.  Anderson  in  his  "  Reminiscences,"  "  he 
was  attacked  with  a  severe  illness,  and  his 
long  confinement  under  this  proved  a  most 
momentous  season  of  his  life.  Recent  be- 
reavements in  his  father's  family,  and  his 
own  affliction,  now  led  him  to  look  at  hu- 
man life  in  a  very  different  aspect  from 
viewing  it  merely  as  a  gay,  thoughtless 
scene,  or  without  comparing  it  in  his  mind's 
eye  with  the  magnitude  of  eternity.  This 
was  the  first  stage  of  the  most  eventful  pe- 
riod of  his  life,  and  he  came  out  of  it  an 
altered  man."  It  was  then  that  his  mind 
was  opened  to  understand  the  doctrines  of 
free  grace ;  and  ever  after  he  preached  the 
faith  which  once  he  destroyed.  And  the 
providences  of  God,  especially  his  afflictive 
dispensations,  have  been  rendered  useful  to 
many  others  in  less  prominent  spheres,  in 
placing  them  within  the  influence  of  "  the 
grace  of  Grod  that  bring eth  salvation.'^'' 

That   remarkable   Christian,   Mrs.  Mary 


THE  PATH  OF  LIGHT.  77 

Winslow,*  was  led  by  tlie  providence  of 
God  in  sucli  a  manner  as  by  his  grace  to 
become  acquainted  with  the  glorious  gospel 
of  Christ.  She  was  at  a  ball  one  evening. 
She  received  much  attention,  and  her  pride 
was  gratified.  She  was  then  just  married, 
and  surrounded  with  every  thing  that  could 
give  earthly  happiness.  But  she  was  un- 
happy, and  her  unhappiness  remained  with 
her  until  she  knew  the  Lord  Jesus.  "  On 
returning  from  the  ball,"  says  she,  "  I  took 
a  hasty  review  of  the  evening  I  had  passed, 
as  I  lay  upon  my  sleepless  pillow.  The 
glitter,  the  music,  the  dance,  the  excitement, 
the  attention,  the  pleasure,  —  all  passed  be- 
fore me.  But,  oh  !  I  felt  a  want  I  could  not 
describe.  I  sighed  ;  and,  throwing  my  arjn 
over  my  head,  whispered  to  myself  these 
expressive  words,  '  Is  this  all  ? '  I  felt  at 
the  moment  that  if  this  were  all  the  happi- 

*  Life  in  Jesus ;  or,  Memoirs  of  iJ/?'S.  Afary  Winslow.    By 
her  son,  Octavius  Winslow,  D.  D. 


78        THE  PATHS   OF   THE   LORD. 

ness  the  world  could  bestow,  then  was  there 
a  lack  I  knew  not  how  to  supply,  and  a  void 
I  could  not  fill.  I  had  reached  the  very 
summit  of  earthly  bliss,  and  found  it  to  fall 
short  of  what  my  heart  craved  and  my  soul 
required.  From  this  time  I  grew  more 
fond  of  retirement,  and  less  inclined  to  min- 
gle with  the  gay  world.  I  felt  that  what  I 
had  been  pursuing  in  the  early  part  of  my 
life  was  not  happiness.  I  turned  from  it 
with  a  sensation  of  loathing,  and  sought  in 
solitude  what  I  had  never  found  in  the  brill- 
iant and  crowded  walks  of  life.  I  thought 
that  there  must  be  a  state  where  real  happi- 
ness was  to  be  found.  In  this  condition  I 
continued  for  years,  striving  to  keep  the 
law  and  shape  my  course  by  'the  whole 
duty  of  man.'  I  endeavored  to  walk  so  as 
to  please  God  ;  but  again  and  again  my  best 
resolutions  were  broken.  These  feelings  I 
concealed  from  all  around  me,  for  I  would 
not  for  the  world  have  breathed  a  hint  that 


THE  PATH  OF  LIGHT.  79 

I  was  uiiliappy,  to  the  dearest  friend.  I  saw 
every  one  around  me  apparently  happy  in 
the  possession  of  tlie  world,  which  had  lost 
its  charm  for  me.  I  now  sought  peace  of 
mind  in  domestic  enjoyment.  I  was  encir- 
cled by  my  children,  possessed  of  a  husband 
who  anticipated  my  fondest  wish,  and  my 
heart  could  sigh  for  nothing  of  earthly  bliss 
I  did  not  possess,  —  and  still  I  was  unhajopy. 
I  was  a  sinner^  and  this  secret  conviction 
beclouded  every  prospect  and  imbittered 
every  clip."  Such  leadings  of  the  Lord  are 
very  useful :  they  bring  us  to  see  the  point 
and  truthfulness  of  those  portions  of  Scrip- 
ture which  set  forth  the  vanity  and  unsatis- 
fying nature  of  all  earthfy  things.  The  ex- 
perience described  in  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes 
must  be  reached  by  ladies  and  gentlemen 
who  have  been  born  to  all  the  pleasures, 
comforts,  and  abundance  which  the  carnal 
heart  could  desire,  before  they  are  likely  to 
search  the  Scriptures  with  a  desire  to  obtain 


80         THE  PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

lasting  happiness,  and  realize  the  spiritual 
joys  described  in  "  the  Song  of  Songs." 
They  must  be  made  to  say  of  the  things  of 
time,  "  Vanity  of  vanities,  all  is  vanity,''^ 
before  they  will  say  of  Jesus,  "  He  is  alto- 
gether lovely,  —  he  is  all  our  salvation  and 
all  our  desire."  In  fact,  every  soul  that  is 
brought  to  Christ  must,  in  some  degree,  feel 
the  emptiness  of  earth's  wells  of  enjoyment 
before  the  truth  concerning  a  satisfying  por- 
tion in  Jesus  be  truly  and  vividly  appre- 
hended. How  many  are  at  all  times  labor- 
ing and  heavy-laden,  like  Mrs.  Winslow,  — 
seeking  rest  and  finding  none !  There  are 
far  more  restless,  unhappy,  thirsting,  long- 
ing souls  in  the  gay  world  than  we  think. 
Many  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  fashion, 
as  they  flit  from  scene  to  scene,  and  seem  to 
be  reveling  amid  the  most  satisfying  joys  of 
earth,  are  unhappy  when  alone,  sad  at  heart, 
and  miserable.  Such  was  Mrs.  Winslow's 
condition.     "  I   was   unhappy,"    she   says ; 


THE  PATH  OF  LIGHT.  81 

"  at  times  miserable ;  ray  weary  soul  thirst- 
ed  for  what  it  had  not,  and  yet  I  could  not 
answer  myself  and  say  what  that  one  thing 
was." 

But  so  great  was  the  pressure  of  her 
mental  disquietude,  that  %er  health  gave 
way.  Looking  narrowly  one  day  into  the 
meaning  of  the  opening  verse  of  the  sixty- 
third  Psalm,  I  was  struck  to  find  the  lan- 
guage so  accurately  describe  a  circumstance 
of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  case  of  sincere 
and  earnest  inquirers.  "  My  flesh  longeth 
for  thee !  "  says  the  exiled  mourner.  What 
is  the  exact  meaning  of  that  striking  ex- 
pression ?  It  signifies,  "  grows  pale."  His 
countenance,  naturally  ruddy  (1  Sam.  xvi. 
12),  became  pale  from  the  intensity  of  his 
inward  longing  after  God.  How  forcible  ! 
His  whole  being  was  so  intensely  exercised 
that  his  inward  condition  of  earnest  desire 
for  the  presence  of  God  might  be  read  from 
his  altered  and  emaciated  bodily  appearance. 


82  THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

This  experience  is  not  peculiar  to  the  royal 
psalmist ;  many  an  inquirer  has  been  so  in- 
tensely occupied  with  the  thoughts  which 
prey  upon  the  mind  of  the  tempest-tossed, 
that  the  pallor  of  waning  health  has  made 
its  appearance  #n  the  fair,  fresh,  and  ruddy 
cheek  of  joyous  youth,  to  the  grief  of  affec- 
tionate and  anxious  friends.  It  was  so  in 
the  case  of  Mrs.  Winslow ;  and  her  hus- 
band, thinking  that  her  unhappiness  and 
consequent  unhealthiness  arose  from  the  sol- 
itude of  their  rural  residence,  was  led  to 
leave  his  ancestral  home  at  Romford,  in 
Essex,  for  a  residence  in  London,  which 
was  the  providence  that  brought  her  into 
contact  with  the  gospel  of  Christ.  She  was 
still  blind  with  reference  to  the  way  of 
peace ;  but  the  Lord  was  leading  her  to 
Calvary,  where  Jesus  made  peace  by  the 
blood  of  his  cross.  He  was,  in  truth,  ful- 
filling his  own  gracious  promise,  "  I  will 
bring  the  blind  by  a  way  they  knew  not; 


THE  PATH  OF  LIGHT.  83 

I  will  lead  them  in  paths  that  they  havje  not 
known ;  I  will  make  darkness  light  before 
them,  and  crooked  things  straight.  These 
things  will  I  do  unto  them,  and  not  forsake 
them." 

She  heard,  for  the  first  time  in  her  life, 
the  precious  gospel  of  peace.  "  This," 
she  writes,  "  was  what  I  wanted  to  know 
for  many  years,  that  Jesus  Christ  came  into 
the  world  to  save  poor  sinners.  I  was  a 
sinner,  and  wanted  to  be  saved.  Oh,  how 
eagerly  I  listened  and  drank  in  every  word ! 
I  had  been  in  vain  trying  to  work  out  my 
salvation  ;  but  my  work  always  fell  short, 
and  left  me  as  poor  and  miserable  as  ever. 
Now  was  held  out  to  me  the  hope  that  I 
might  be  saved  by  the  work  of  another,  — 
the  work  of  Jesus  Christ."  But  still  she 
had  great  questionings  about  the  way  in 
which  a  sinner  could  be  justified.  Never- 
theless, the  truth  that  a  sinner  could  be 
saved  had  been  lodged  in  her  mind.     And 


84       THE  PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

the  truthfulness  of  God  her  Saviour,  when 
he  says,  ^'Ask  and  ye  shall  receive^^  had  also 
been  deeply  impressed  upon  her  mind,  as 
she  searched  the  Scriptures  during  the  quiet 
hours  of  night,  as  she  watched  by  the  side  of 
her  sick  child.  She  fell  on  her  knees,  and 
pleaded  this  promise.  "  I  did  not  wrestle 
so  much,"  she  says,  "  for  my  salvation,  as 
to  know  lioio  I  could  be  saved  as  a  helpless 
sinner  that  could  do  nothing.  I  arose  from 
my  knees,  and  again  took  my  Bible.  I  read 
and  compared  Scripture  with  Scripture ; 
but  the  one  part  appeared  to  contradict  the 
other,  and  ni}^  mind  was  left  in  darkness 
and  perplexity.  Again  I  carried  the  prom- 
ise to  the  throne  of  grace,  and  again  wres- 
tled with  the  Lord.  I  returned  to  my  Bible, 
but  it  w^as  yet  a  sealed  book.  The  third 
time  I  ventured  near  the  Lord,  still  plead- 
ing his  own  gracious  promise,  '•Ask  and  ye 
I  shall  receive.^  In  an  instant,  light  broke  in 
;  upon  my  soul !     Jesus  stood  before  me,  and 


THE  PATH  OF  LIGHT.  85 

spoke  tliese  blessed  words,  '/  am  thj  salva^ 
tion!^  I  liailed  the  glad. tidings  ;  my  heart 
and  soul  responded.  Jesus  was  with  me ! 
He  had  himself  spoken,  —  I  had  seen  the 
Lord  and  heard  his  voice ;  my  soul  was 
saved,  my  burden  was  gone ;  the  grave- 
clothes  in  which  I  had  been  so  long  con- 
fined fell  off;  my  spirit  was  free,  and  I 
seemed  to  soar  toward  heaven  in  the  sweet- 
est, richest  enjoyment,  my  heart  filled  with 
a  joy  unspeakable.  I  arose  from  my  knees 
to  adore  and  praise  and  bless  his  holy  name. 
Oh,  what  a  night  was  that !  never,  never  to 
be  forgotten !  I  had  seen  Jesus !  It  was 
no  vision  of  the  bodily  senses  that  I  saAV ; 
but  I  had  no  more  doubt  that  I  was  a  re- 
deemed and  pardoned  sinner  —  that  I  had 
seen  Christ  and  held  communion  with  him 
who  died  that  I  might  live  —  than  I  had  of 
my  own  existence.  It  was  with  difficulty  I 
could  refrain  fi'om  calling  up  the  whole 
house  to  hear  what  the  Lord  had  done  for 


86        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

my  soul.  It  has  since  been  evident  to  my^ 
self  that  when  the  Holy  Ghost  gave  me  the 
promise  to  plead,  he  also  gave  me  a  measure 
of  faith  to  credit  God  for  its  fnlfinment ; 
and  J  in  answering  the  prayer  of  simple  faith, 
Christ  came  into  my  soul  with  a  full  and 
free  salvation.  'I am  thy  salvation!^  This 
was  good  news  indeed,  fresh  from  heaven. 
Christ  was  mine,  heaven  was  mine ;  all  care 
and  sorrow  had  vanished,  and  I  was  as  hap^ 
py  as  I  could  be  in  the  body.  I  had  found 
what  I  had  long  sought.  I  had  been  in 
search  of  real  happiness  for  years,  and  in 
one  night  I  found  it  all  in  Jesus.  God's 
richest  treasury  had  been  thrown  open  to 
my  view ;  and  in  him  I  found  all  I  wanted 
for  time  and  eternity."  How  very  wonder- 
fully the  providential  and  spiritual  leadings 
of  the  Lord  wrought  to  produce  that  state 
of  mind  which  made  her  thirst  for  higher 
enjoyments  than  those  which  this  world  can 
supply  ;  and  how  graciously  the  Lord  opened 


THE  PATH  OF  LIGHT.  87 

lier  eyes,  and  made  her  find  "  all  in  Jesus !  '* 
"  Blessed  is  the  people  that  know  the  joyful 
sound ;  they  shall  walk,  O  Lord,  in  the  light 
of  thy  countenance." 

It  is  thus  that  the  Lord  leads  his  ran- 
somed people  to  a  saving  knowledge  of  him- 
self, and  to  obtain  spiritual  illumination  on 
those  passages  that  contain  the  gospel  of 
Christ  in  all  its  fullness  and  freeness.  It  is 
an  all-important  period  in  our  life,  when  we 
are  led  clearly  to  apprehend  the  divine 
method  of  justification  by  faith  alone, — 
free,  full,  and  everlasting  salvation  entirely 
by  the  perfect  work  of  Jesus,  and  not  by 
our  own  imperfect  works.  But  after  "  being 
justified  freely  by  his  grace,  through  the  re- 
demption that  is  in  Christ  Jesus,"  and  after 
drawing  near  to  God,  "  with  a  true  heart, 
in  full  assurance  of  faith,"  we  need  to  be 
divinely  instructed  in  other  truths,  that  we 
may  not  be  always  engaged  hi  laying  the 


88        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

foundation,  but  that  we   may  be  building 
upon  it  and  going  on  to  perfection. 

Mrs.  Winslow  had  made  proof  of  the 
truthfulness  of  God,  and  she  nmst  also  make 
proof  of  his  faithfulness  as  a  covenant-keep- 
ing God.  Her  beloved  husband  was  seized 
with  a  severe  illness.  Soon  after,  she  her- 
self became  dangerously  ill.  Her  illness  led 
to  her  husband  giving  up  his  commission 
in  the  army,  which  was  the  cause  of  much 
disappointment  to  her,  for  "  she  looked  for- 
ward to  the  army  as  the  future  profession  of 
her  sons.  But  greater  trials  were  before 
her.  Some  years  after  Captain  Winslow's 
retirement  from  the  army,  his  ample  fortune 
became  seriously  impaired  through  ill-ad- 
vised and  disastrous  investments.  It  was 
this  circumstance  —  an  important  link  in 
the  chain  of  events,  evolving  God's  purposes 
of  love  —  that  suggested  a  removal  to  the 
United  States  of  America,  as  offering  wider 


THE  PATH  OF  LIGHT.  89 

scope  for  a  family  composed  almost  entirely 
of  boys,  and  a  place  of  residence  more  favor- 
able to  resources  now  sadly  crippled."  Mrs. 
Winslow,  accompanied  by  her  family  of  ten 
children,  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  her  hus- 
band was  to  follow\  But  she  was  to  find  in 
the  home  of  her  adoption  trials  more  severe 
than  any  she  had  yet  experienced.  Her  in- 
fant daughter  sickened  and  died  ;  and,  before 
her  corpse  was  buried,  the  melancholy  intelli- 
gence reached  her  that  her  beloved  husband 
was  no  more  !  "  Deep  calleth  unto  deep  at 
the  noise  of  thy  water-spouts  ;  all  thy  waves 
and  thy  billows  are  gone  over  me."  Into 
that  mournful  class  of  Scripture  passages 
she  now  saw  as  she  had  never  done ;  but 
she  also  became  more  fully  acquainted  with 
that  class  which  speaks  of  the  faithfulness  of 
God.  A  widow  with  a  large  family,  and  in 
reduced  worldly  circumstances,  a  stranger 
in  a  strange  land,  —  what  was  she  to  do? 
The    first   consolation    which    entered    her 


90        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

striken  heart  was  communicated  by  New- 
ton's hymn,  so  apphcable  to  her  own  case  : 


I  asked  the  Lord  that  I  might  grow 
In  faith  and  love  and  every  grace ; 

Might  more  of  his  salvation  know, 
And  seek  more  earnestly  his  face. 

*Twas  he  who  taught  me  thus  to  pray, 
And  he,  I  trust,  has  answered  prayer ; 

But  it  has  been  in  such  a  way 
As  almost  drove  me  to  despair. 

I  hoped  that  in  some  favored  hour 
At  once  he'd  answer  my  request ; 

And  by  his  love's  constraining  power 
Subdue  my  sins  and  give  me  rest. 

Instead  of  this  he  made  me  feel 

The  hidden  evils  of  my  heart  ; 
And  let  the  angry  powers  of  hell 

Assault  my  soul  in  every  part. 

Yea,  more,  —  with  his  own  hand  he  seemed 

Intent  to  aggravate  my  woe  ; 
Crossed  all  the  fair  designs  I  schemed, 

Blasted  my  gourds,  and  laid  me  low. 


THE  PATH  OF  LIGHT.  91 

Lord,  why  is  this  ?  I  trembling  cried ; 
Wilt  thou  pursue  thy  worm  to  death  ? 
"  'Tis  in  this  way,"  the  Lord  replied, 
"I  answer  prayer  for  grace  and  faith. 

"  Those  inward  trials  I  employ 

From  self  and  pride  to  set  thee  free  ; 
And  break  thy  schemes  of  earthly  joy, 
That  thou  may'st  seek  thy  all  in  me." 

The  Christian  Avidow  was  in  some  meas- 
ure comforted,  and  could  now  trust  in  the 
Lord.  She  could  cast  her  burden  on  the 
Lord,  and  repose  in  peace  upon  his  faithful 
Word.  One  night,  which  she  spent  in 
prayer,  was  a  memorable  one.  Toward  the 
dawn  of  day  a  voice  seemed  audibly  to  utter 
these  words  in  her  ear  and  heart,  —  "/  will 
he  a  Father  to  thy  fatherless  children.'''' 
^'  Years  have  passed  since  then,"  she  writes, 
"  and  the  Lord  has  not  for  one  moment  for- 
gotten his  promise.  But  I  take  the  promise 
to  extend  beyond  this  poor  dying  world. 
I  believe  he  designs  to  be  their  Father  to  all 


92        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

eternity,  and  tliat  I  shall  meet  all,  all  ray 
children  in  heaven !  How  often  have  I 
gone  and  pleaded  this  promise  before  him, 
and  have  always  found  my  faith  increased  ! 
And  still  my  faith  holds  out ;  for  He  is  faith- 
fid  that  hath  promised.'^''  Thus  was  she  led 
to  know  the  power  of  those  exceeding  great 
and  precious  promises  which  contain  com- 
forting assurances  based  upon  the  unchang- 
ing faithfulness  of  God.  And  as  years  passed 
away,  she  found  that  the  providence  of  God 
wonderfully  assisted  her  in  obtaining  fresh 
and  impressive  knowledge  of  the  truths  of 
God's  holy  Word. 

And  so  it  is  with  all  God's  people.  They 
are  led  by  a  way  they  knew  not,  to  obtain 
a  deep,  personal,  refreshing  acquaintance 
Avith  his  "  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowl- 
edge "  which  are  hid  in  Christ.  It  is  com- 
paratively easy  to  acquire  a  natural  knowl- 
edge of  divine  things  from  human  systems  ; 
but  God  only  can  impart  a  spiritual  knowl- 


THE  PA  TH  OF  LIGHT.  93 

edo;e  of  clivine  tliino;s.  "  The  natural  man 
receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 
for  they  are  foohshness  unto  him ;  neither 
can  he  know  them,  because  they  are  spirit- 
ually discerned."  By  the  teaching  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  the  simple  peasant  will  enter 
more  fiilly  into  the  pith  and  marrow  of  di- 
vine thino's  than  could  the  m'eatest  scholar 
or  most  learned  theologian  by  the  utmost 
efforts  of  his  unaided  mental  powers.  This 
was  seen  in  the  case  of  the  accomplished 
and  talented  Hewitson  and  the  young  peas- 
ant he  met  at  Leamington.  "  My  inter- 
course," he  writes,  —  "my  intercourse  with 
the  young  man  soon  gave  me  ground  to 
conclude  that  if  my  theoretic  knowledge  of 
gospel  truths  was  greater  than  his,  he,  un- 
like myself,  had  experienced  their  sanctify- 
ing power.  Truly  his  was  the  better  por- 
tion." But  after  he  had  been  taught  these 
truths  by  the  leading  and  enlightening  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  the  change  soon  became  obvi- 


94        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

ous  to  otliers,  and  they  felt  that  he  now  pos- 
sessed a  somethmg  Jiew  and  indescribable, 
—  a  something  of  which  they,  in  turn,  knew 
nothing.  When  he  returned  to  his  village- 
home  for  the  summer,  "  his  relatives  at  once 
marked  the  great  change."  The  very  night 
he  arrived,  he  spoke  to  all  the  family  most 
solemnly  on  the  concerns  of  eternity ;  and 
the  whole  villao;e  soon  saw  that  he  was  an- 
other  man.  He  had  been  known  hitherto  as 
the  great  scholar  and  the  exemplary  divinity- 
student  ;  but  now  they  "  took  knowledge  of 
him  that  he  had  been  w^ith  Jesus."  "  That," 
said  he  one  day  soon  after  his  return,  laying 
his  hand  upon  the  open  Bible, — "  that  shall 
henceforth  be  my  daily  study ;  I  desire  to 
converse  through  it  daily  with  God ! "  "  The 
purpose  was  not  unaccomplished.  The  Bi- 
ble may  be  said  to  have  thenceforth  become 
his  library.  No  longer  regarding  it  as  a 
mere  hieroglyphic  to  be  curiously  examined 
by  the  eye  of  the  scholar,  he  came  to  it  with 


THE  PATH  OF  LIGHT.  95 

the  heart  of  a  child  to  Hsten  to  the  voice  of 
his  Father.  And  out  of  it  he  learned  that 
living,  fresh  divinity  which  impregnated 
with  its  savor  his  whole  ftiture  conversation 
and  correspondence  and  ministry."  *  And 
how  blessed  were  the  discoveries  he  made 
in  the  field  of  Scripture !  He  was  led  by 
the  Spirit  and  dealings  of  God  to  discover 
there  many  spiritual  truths  which  he  had 
never  before  perceived ;  and  among  others 
that  which  bathes  all  the  rest  in  noontide 
radiance,  —  the  coming  and  the  kingdom  of 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ ! 

It  requires  much  experience  of  the  deal- 
ings of  God  to  make  us  receive  the  higher 
and  more  distino-uishino;  truths  of  Christi- 
anity,  —  especially  those  that  are  unpopular, 
and  which  we  have  been  taught  to  reject ; 
but,  if  we  would  be  fresh  and  fruitful  Chris- 
tians, we  must  lay  aside  all  prejudice,  and 

*  Memoir  of  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Hewiston.    By  the  Rev.  John 
Baillie. 


96        THE  PATHS   OF  THE  LOUD. 

allow  the  Lord  to  teach  us  from  the  foun- 
tarn  of  inspiration  "  all  the  counsel  of  God.'' 
There  is  an  an  impetuosity  about  the  young 
Christian  which  frequently  renders  him  im- 
patient of  those  truths  of  God's  Word  which 
run  directly  counter  to  his  own  preconceived 
notions.  The  doctrine  of  Jehovah's  su- 
premacy and  absolute  sovereignty  is  so  re- 
pugnant to  the  notions  of  fallen  human 
nature,  that  it  is  not  likely  to  be  received 
with  spiritual  apprehension  and  cordiality 
for  a  considerable  period  after  conversion. 
But  it  is  a  blessed  experience  to  be  brought 
to  submit  wilhngly  to  the  most  humbling 
truths.  It  is  a  happy  thing  to  be  shown  by 
the  Spirit  that  God  is  on  the  throne,  and 
that  we  must  lie  low  in  the  dust  at  his  foot- 
stool, and  be  dealt  with  by  him  according  to 
his  own  sovereign  will.  It  is  no  easy  matter 
to  submit  with  adoring  complacency  to  such 
sentiments  as  these  :  —  "  No  man  can  come 
to  me  except  the  Father  who  hath  sent  me 


THE  PATH  OF  LIGHT.  97 

draw  him,"  —  "So  then  it  is  not  of  him 
that  willeth,  nor  of  him  that  runneth,  but  of 
God  that  showeth  mercy,"  —  "Blessed  be 
the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  hath  blessed  us  with  all  spirit- 
ual blessings  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ ; 
according  as  he  hath  chosen  us  in  him  be- 
fore the  foundation  of  the  world,  that  we 
should  be  holy  and  without  blame  before 
him  in  love;  havmg  predestinated  us  unto 
the  adoption  of  children  by  Jesus  Christ  to 
himself,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of 
his  will,  to  the  praise  of  the  glory  of  his 
grace,  wherein  he  hath  made  us  accepted  in 
the  Beloved,  in  whom  we  have  redemption 
through  his  blood,  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
according  to  the  riches  of  his  grace." 

The  following  excerpt  from  a  young  man's 
letter  forms  a  very  appropriate  illustration 
of  this  part  of  our  subject:  —  "I  must  con- 
fess, with  much  sorrow  and  shame,  that  I 
have  been  half  an  infidel  in  my  time  ;  but  by 
7 


yg        THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

a  chain  of  circumstances,  the  end  of  which  the 
God  of  all  grace  manifestly  held  in  his  own 
hand,  I  was  brought  under  the  ministry  of  a 
living  evangelical  servant  of  Christ,  and  re- 
ceived many  good  impressions.  About  the 
same  time  I  was  brought  into  contact  with 
a  book  on  the  ministry,  which  proved  the 
turning  and  determining  point  of  my  life. 
I  shut  myself  out  from  society  for  a  consid- 
erable period,  and  gave  myself  to  prayer 
and  the  study  of  God's  Word.  I  was  also 
led  by  a  manifest  providence  to  speak  to 
others  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus.  But,  in  my 
zeal,  I  did  not  at  all  times  think  and  act 
wisely.  I  earnestly  desired  to  see  sinners 
coming  to  Jesus  ;  and  I  preached  almost  ex- 
clusively those  truths  which  I  deemed  en- 
couraging, and  could  not  bear  to  hear  others, 
because  I  thought  they  would  discourage 
poor  sinners  who  were  seeking  salvation.  I 
am  still  of  opinion  that  it  requires  much 
spiritual  wisdom  and  discrimination  to  preach 


*  THE  PATH  OF  LIGHT.  99 

the  higher  trutlis  of  the  Christian  system ; 
and  also  that  the  great  thing  needed  by  the 
world  is  the  gospel  that  '  Christ  died  for  our 
sins,  according  to  the  Scriptures.'  But  al- 
though a  man  holds  such  views,  he  need  not 
feel  irritated  when  he  comes  in  contact  with 
these  sublime  doctrines.  At  the  time  I  re- 
fer to,  I  felt  annoyed  when  I  heard  them 
preached,  when  I  met  with  them  in  books, 
and  even  when  I  came  upon  them  in  the 
Word  of  God !  I  bless  the  Lord  I  can  now 
receive  them  without  irksomeness,  and  re- 
joice in  them  as  one  that  finds  great  spoil. 
I  was  attending  the  Divinity  Hall  when 
I  was  delivered  from  my  fruitless  warfare 
with  the  truth.  I  was  hearing  a  course  of 
lectures  on  the  subject  of  my  aversion,  and 
felt  so  terribly  annoyed  that  I  shut  my  note- 
book and  wrote  nothing ;  but  sat  in  suUen- 
ness,  with  a  heart  boiling  with  opposition  to 
the  solemn  truths  which  were  treated  of.  I 
said  to  my  room-mate,  when  we  got  home. 


100      THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

that  I  believed  such  teachmg  was  enough  to 
flood  the  land  with  infidelity ;  and  I  stoutly 
averred  that  no  honest  man  could  hold  such 
views  and  preach  an  unfettered  gospel.  He 
was  better  acquainted  with  the  truth  than 
I  was,  and  reasoned  the  matter  with  me, 
bringing  forward  the  most  cogent  arguments 
to  prove  his  side  of  the  question ;  but  after 
a  time  he  found  it  was  useless,  for  he  saw 
that  I  was  determined  to  hold  to  my  own 
opinions.  The  point  to  be  settled  must  be 
settled  practically^  for  I  would  have  nothing 
to  do  with  it  theoretically.  And  thus,  in  the 
gracious  providence  of  God,  it  was  settled. 
I  must  hear  a  minister  holding  these  views 
preach  the  gospel  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent 
down  from  heaven.  Nothing  short  of  that 
w^ould  convince  me.  I  saw  it  announced 
by  placards  that  Dr.  Winslow,  of  Leaming- 
ton, would  preach  in  town  at  such  places.  I 
had  read  some  of  his  papers  in  a  religious 
periodical,  and  one  which  gave  an  account 


THE  PATH  OF  LIGHT.  101 

of  a  revival  liad  particularly  interested  me. 
I  was  therefore  ready  to  hear  him,  and  ac- 
cordingly repaired  to  the  chapels  where  he 
was  expected  to  preach.  In  the  forenoon  he 
preached  from  Matt.  iv.  16,  but  appeared  to 
be  much  straitened,  and  did  not  make  a 
very  favorable  impression.  I  went,  how- 
ever, to  hear  him  again  on  the  afternoon  of 
that  same  Lord's  day,  and  heard  him  preach, 
with  evident  power  and  demonstration  of 
the  Spirit,  from  Psalm  Ixxii.  6.  He  brought 
out  fully  the  highest  doctrines  of  the  Chris- 
tian system,  but  in  such  a  way,  and  with 
such  accompanying  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
that  I  felt  my  prejudices  and  opposition  en- 
tirely subdued.  I  was  a  new  man  from 
that  day.  I  had  been  converted  for  a  con- 
siderable time,  but  this  was  a  kind  of  second 
conversion.  The  light  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  glory  of  God  had  shined  into  my 
heart  more  fully  than  before,  and  I  lay  in 
the  dust,  saying,  '  Woe  is  me,  for  I  am  un- 


102  THE  PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

done,  ....  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  the 
Kmg,  the  Lord. of  hosts.'  I  could  never 
forget  the  solemnity  of  that  afternoon  ;  and 
ever  since  I  have  preached  with  joy  all  the 
doctrines  of  God's  holy  Word." 

And  with  reference  to  the  spiritual  knowl- 
edge of  all  the  truths  of  G-od^s  Word,  the 
particular  background  of  providence  suited 
to  each  is  necessary  to  a  saving  and  refresh- 
ing view ;  so  that,  when  we  are  led  into 
any  very  difficult  or  trying  circumstances, 
instead  of  concluding  that  the  Lord  hath  for- 
saken us,  and  hath  forgotten  to  be  gracious, 
w^e  should  rather  conclude  that  the  Lord  is 
leading  us  into  these  new  circumstances  to 
give  us  new  discoveries  of  his  own  truth  and 
glory.  The  instructions  of  God's  Word  be- 
ing intended  to  correspond  with  the  fore- 
seen circumstances  of  all  his  people,  we  must 
have  the  circumstances,  whether  joyous  or 
sorrowful,  before  these  instructions  can  be- 
come "  spirit  and  life  "  to  our  souls.     Deep- 


THE  PATH  OF  SERVICE.  103 

ly-tried  friend,  you  have  no  difficulty  in  un- 
derstanding my  meaning,  for  you  know  that 
God's  Word  has  been  the  sweetest  when 
your  cup  has  been  the  bitterest,  and  that  the 
bitterness  of  your  trials  procured  for  you  all 
that  sweetness.  Let  us,  then,  "  trust  in  the 
Lord  for  ever."  "  The  Lord  is  my  shep- 
herd, I  shall  not  want ; "  though  he  lead  me 
through  the  valley  of  Baca,  I  shall  always 
find  there  some  refreshing  Elim  with  its  wells 
of  water  and  overshadowing  palms. 

We  limit  not  the  truth  of  God  to  ourpoor  reach  of  mind, 

By  notions  of  our  day  and  sect,  crude,  partial,  and  con- 
fined. 

No,  let  a  new  and  better  hope  within  our  hearts  be  stu-red  ; 

The  Lord  hath  yet  more  light  and  truth  to  break  forth 
from' his  Word. 

Who  dares  to  bind  to  his  dull  sense  the  oracles  of  Heaven, 

For  all  the  nations,  tongues,  and  climes,  and  all  the  ages 
given ; 

That  universe  how  much  unknown!  that  ocean  unex- 
plored ! 

The  Lord  hath  yet  more  light  and  tnith  to  break  forth 
from  his  Word. 


'  104       THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

Darkling  our  great  forefathers  went  the  first  steps  of  the 

way; 
'Twas  but  the  dawning,  yet  to  groAv  into  the  perfect  day. 
And  grow  it  shall ;  —  our  glorious  sun  more  fervid  rays 

afford  : 
The  Lord  hath  yet  more  light  and  truth  to  break  forth 

from  his  Word. 

The  valleys  passed,  ascending  still,  our  souls  would 
higher  climb, 

And  look  down  from  supernal  hights  on  all  the  bygone 
time. 

Upward  we  press,  —  the  air  is  clear,  and  the  sphere- 
music  heard ; 

The  Lord  hath  yet  more  light  and  truth  to  break  forth 
from  his  Word. 

O  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit,  send  us  increase  from  above ; 

Enlarge,  expand  all  Christian  souls  to  comprehend  thy 
love; 

And  make  us  to  go  on  to  know,  with  nobler  powers  con- 
ferred, 

The  Lord  hath  yet  more  light  and  truth  to  break  forth 
from  his  Word. 


cK. 


VII. 

THE    PATH     OF    LIFE. 

)RAVELERS  tell  us  that  outside  the 
walls  of  Floriau,  a  suburb  of  Val- 
etta,  in  the  Island  of  Malta,  there 
is  a  convent  where  the  monks,  as 
they  die,  are  carried  down  to  the 
vaults  and  stuck  up  in  niches  in  the  wall ; 
and  there,  arrayed  in  all  the  habiliments  of 
their  order,  they  are  kept  in  their  erect  po- 
sition by  a  chain  going  round  their  waists ; 
while  the  stone  has,  it  is  said,  the  singular 
property  of  preserving  them  for  a  considera- 
ble period  from  decay.  The  sight  must  be 
a  sickening  as  well  as  a  solemnizing  one. 
What  a  mockery  of  living  monkery,  to  stick 
up  the  dead  monks  there  !     Yet  these  dead 

105 


106  TEE  PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

men  shall  live.  They  now  have  all  the  ap- 
pearance of  life,  in  the  ghramering  light 
which  falls  upon  them ;  but,  though  dressed 
and  standing  erect  as  when  alive,  they  are 
in  reality  dead^  and  are  kept  in  their  present 
position  merely  by  artificial  means. 

And  it  is  sad  to  think  that  this  mimicry 
of  continued  life  forms  a  too  appropriate 
illustration  of  the  state  in  which  even  true 
Christians  are  sometimes  found.  The  breath 
of  the  divine  life  —  the  life  of  God  in  their 
souls  —  appears  to  have  been  extinguished. 
They  are  still  clothed  in  all  the  habiliments 
of  their  Christian  profession,  but  they  are 
now  only  bound  to  the  jpresei'ving  Rock  by 
the  strong  chain  that  keeps  them  in  their 
erect  position ;  and  their  existence  is  artifi- 
cial, not  vital,  —  at  least  they  are  not  con- 
scious of  vitality.  Their  spiritual  life  is  sus- 
pended ;  but  they  shall  yet  live.  Sueh 
was  the  experience  of  the  psalmist,  when  he 
penned  the  following  mournful  lines  :  — 


THE  PATH  OF  LIFE.  107 

0  Lord  God  of  my  salvation, 

1  cry  day  and  night  unto  thee. 
Let  my  prayer  come  before  thee  : 
Incline  thine  ear  unto  my  cry ; 
For  my  soul  is  full  of  troubles, 

And  my  life  draweth  nigh  unto  the  grave. 

I  am  counted  with  those  who  go  down  into  the  pit , 

I  am  as  a  man  who  hath  no  strength, 

Laid  low  among  the  dead ; 

Like  the  slain  Avho  lie  in  the  grave, 

Whom  ttou  rememberest  no  more, 

And  they  are  cut  off  from  thy  hand. 

Thou  hast  laid  me  in  the  lowest  pit, 

In  darkness,  in  the  shadow  of  death. 

Thy  wrath  lieth  hard  upon  me. 

And  thou  hast  afflicted  me  with  all  thy  waves. 

I  am  shut  up,  and  I  can  not  come  forth ; 

Mine  eye  mourneth  by  reason  of  affliction. 

Lord,  I  have  called  daily  upon  thee, 

I  have  stretched  out  my  hands  unto  thee. 

Lord,  why  castest  thou  off  my  soul  ? 

Why  hidest  thou  thy  face  from  me  ? 

While  I  suffer  thy  tensors  I  am  distracted. 

But  the  Lord  does  not  forsake  his  people. 
He  despiseth  not  his  prisoners.     The  very 


108       TEE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

next  psalm  commences  witli  tlie  exclamation 
of  deliverance  experienced:  "I  will  sing  of 
the  mercies  of  the  Lord  for  ever."  So  sud- 
den is  the  change  from  death,  with  its 
mourning,  to  life,  with  its  joy  and  song. 

It  is  certainly  the  most  trying  of  all  God's 
dispensations  to  Imve  his  Spirit  withdrawn, 
and  to  be  in  that  condition  when  we  are 
compelled  to  say,  "  He  hath  made  me  to 
dwell  in  darkness,  as  those  that  have  been 
long  dead:  therefore  is  my  spirit  over- 
whelmed within  me,  mt/  heart  ivithin  me  is 
desolated  But  it  is  such  an  experience  that 
teaches  us  that  the  divine  life  within  us  is 
not  a  lamp  which  we  can  trim,  oil,  and  keep 
burning,  but  which  must  be  trimmed  by  the 
High  Priest  of  our  profession,  and  made  to 
burn  brightly  by  having  a  continued  supply 
of  the  oil  of  divine  grace  communicated  by 
^'  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus."  And  it 
is  such  an  experience  that  will  lead  us  earn- 
estly to  pray  for  Jehovah's  quickening  grace. 


THE  PATH  OF  LIFE.  ]09 

This  melancholy,  death-like  state  of  soul,  is 
commonly  brought  on  by  indulging  in  known 
sin,  and  retaining  an  unpurged  conscience. 
The  conscience  must  be  kept  in  a  healthy 
and  thorough  working  condition ;  for  it  be- 
ing to  our  spiritual  existence  what  the  stom- 
ach is  to  our  physical  constitution,  if  it  is 
not  kept  in  a  state  of  health  and  vigor,  our 
whole  spiritual  constitution  must  become 
disordered  and  unhealthy.  It  was  indul- 
gence in  known  sin  that  brouo;ht  David  the 
king  into  the  dead  and  dangerous  condition 
of  soul  which  produced  that  hardness  of 
heart,  unbelief,  and  forgetfulness  of  God, 
which  led  to  his  numbering  the  people,  and 
to  the  consequent  terrible  infliction  of  the 
judgments  of  God.  And  as  long  as  he  con- 
tinued in  the  sullen,  carnal,  unconfessing 
state,  his  "  moisture  was  turned  into  the 
drought  of  summer."  But  as  soon  as  he 
confessed  his  sin,  in  the  thoroughly  penitent 
and  ingenuous  manner  recorded  in  the  fifty- 


110       THE  PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

first  psalm,  his  conscience  was  cleared ;  and 
the  first  burst  of  returning  life  formed  itself 
into  the  joyous  exclamation,  "  Oh,  the  bless- 
edness of  transgression  forgiven  !  sin  cov- 
ered !  " 

There  are  few,  we  believe,  who  under- 
stand what  Bunyan  means  by  his  "  Valley 
of  the  Shadow  of  Death ;  "  but  it  has  a  ter- 
rible meaning  to  those  who  pass  through  it ; 
and  as  "  the  path  of  life  "  lies  right  through 
it,  if  we  would  have  "life  more  abundantly" 
we  must,  at  one  time  or  other,  walk  through 
its  dangerous  and  solitary  gloom.  I  believe 
Bunyan  meant,  by  "  The  Valley  of  the 
Shadow  of  Death,"  that  experience  of  true 
Christians  which  is  commonly  known  by 
"walking  in  darkness," — having  to  grope 
their  way  under  the  hidings  of  God's  coun- 
tenance, while  their  own  minds  are  filled 
with  confusion,  and  they  are  so  perplexed 
with  the  temptations  oT  Satan  that  they  are 
at  their  wit's  end.     It  is  difficult  to  walk  in 


THE  PATH  OF  LIFE.  \\\ 

it,  for  the  way  is  narrow,  the  darkness  is 
dreadful,  and  there  is  "  a  deep  ditch  on  the 
one  side,  and  a  quag  on  the  other."  When 
God's  countenance  is  withdrawn,  when  the 
mind  is  confused,  when  Satan  is  suggesting 
blasphemies  and  every  pollution  and  wicked- 
edness,  when  the  breathings  of  the  Spirit 
are  not  realized,  when  the  Word  becomes 
powerless  and  the  heart  gets  out  of  living 
fellowship  with  Jesus,  how  apt  we  are  to 
depart  fi'om  that  narrow  way  and  fall  into 
the  "  quag "  of  outward  sin,  as  did  King 
David ;  or  into  the  deep  ditch  of  erroneous 
doctrines,  as  did  many  in  the  churches  of 
Galatia !  Those  only  who  know  "  the  hard- 
ships and  adversities  of  the  Christian  life," 
are  acquainted  experunen tally  Avith  "  The 
Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death,"  and  can 
enter  with  sympathetic  feeling  into  the  fol- 
lowing :  "  Owing  to  bodily  weakness,  you, 
as  well  as  myself,  are  more  exposed  to  the 
fiery  darts  which  Satan  is  ever  seeking  to 


112       THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

cast  throiigli  the  arrow-slip  of  imagination 
into  the  citadel  of  the  heart  —  doubts,  fears, 
anxieties,  misgivings,  despondencies  —  than 
if  you  were  enjoying  vigor  of  bodily  health 
and  buoyancy  of  animal  spirits.  Invalids, 
and  especially  those  laboring  under  diseases 
which  have  the  effect  of  depressing  the  mind, 

—  an  effect  not  to  be  removed  wholly  by 
any  thing  but  the  removal  of  the  cause  itself, 

—  these  seem  to  be  the  forlorn  hope  of  the 
Redeemer's  army,  set  forward  to  the  endur- 
ance of  greater  spiritual  hardships,  and  to 
more  desperate  encounters  with  the  enemy 
of  souls,  than  other  soldiers  of  the  cross. 
But '  this  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the 
world,  even  our  faith ; '  and  our  faith  over- 
comes hy  identifying  us  with  the  So7i  of  Crod. 
Faith  stands  in  the  battle-field  and  cries, 
*  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  anointed  Saviour, 

—  he  wdio  knew  no  sm,  —  was  made  sin  for 
me ;  and  I  am  the  righteousness  of  God  in 
him  ! '     This  is  at  once  the  armor,  the  war- 


THE  PATH  OF  LIFE.  IIB 

cry,  the  battle,  tlie  victory,  and  the  triumph. 
Resisted  in  this  gospel-spirit,  Satan  is  turned 
to  flight,  and  the  believer  remains  master  of 
the  field."  *  Or,  to  quote  the  experience 
of  another :  "I  thought,  when  I  began  to 
read  a  volume  of  precious  Christian  experi- 
ence, that  I  was  to  be  quickened  by  it,  as  I 
had  been  by  another  some  time  ago ;  but  I 
have  read  half  through  it  in  a  miserably  low 
tone  of  spirit.  This  train  of  thought  passed 
through  my  mind,  and  produced  darkness 
and  unbelief :  '  You  act  as  if  you  could 
command  the  life-giving  grace  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Besides,  your  expectation  is  pre- 
sumption. How  can  you  expect  to  have 
this  volume  blessed  to  your  spiritual  edifica- 
tion, when  a  fortnight  ago  you  had  such  a 
blessed  time  of  brokenness  of  heart  and 
weeping  joy  over  a  similar  one,  and  you 
have  been  hardening  your  heart,  going  back, 
and  sinning  against  the  love  of  God  ever 

*  Rev.  W.  H.  Hewitson. 


IM  THE   PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

since  ?"  You  would  live  upon  religious  stim- 
ulants^ and  not  on  Christ,  the  bread  of  life ; 
and  your  life  is  that  of  an  occasional  spirit- 
ual excitement,  followed  by  corresponding 
collapse.'  Here  Satan  seemed  to  say, '  Read 
on,  and  get  your  much-loved  stimulus.  I 
wish  you  great  elevation  and  much  joy.' 
And  sin  and  unbelief  shut  me  up  to  be  de- 
rided by  him ;  for  I  felt  none  of  the  breath- 
ing of  the  Spirit  within  me,  and  I  was 
ashamed  to  look  to  Jesus,  it  was  so  hke 
making  Christ  the  minister  of  sin.  I  had 
wept  joyfully  and  with  a  deeply-humbled 
spirit  over  the  former  volume  ;  but  although 
I  read  truth  equally  momentous  and  impres- 
sive, and  longed  far  more  for  the  blessing 
than  I  did  then,  there  was  no  feeling,  —  the 
Lord  was  silent  toward  me.  Not  a  tear 
would  come,  and  I  felt  conscious  none  could. 
How  dreadful  this  experience  of  '  conscious 
death /^     .... 

"  Oh,  how  vitalizing  to  the  soul  is  unin- 


THE  PATH  OF  LIFE.  115 

terrupted  communion  with  God !  What 
freshness,  energy,  and  liveliness  it  would 
insure !  I  would  then  grow  in  grace,  and 
would  no  longer  be  so  pale-faced,  spiritually, 
as  I  have  lately  been.  Angels  will  surely 
wonder  at  my  present  emaciated  appear- 
ance ;  and  devils  —  the  more  knowing  and 
surgeon-like  of  them  —  may  have  predicted 
the  day  when  I  am  likely  to  expire  !  I  feel 
no  spiritual  life  within  me ;  but  surely  I  am 
not  to  be  left  to  perish  utterly !  Oh,  dread- 
ful thought !  die  eternally  !  But  if  I  would 
live,  I  must  eat ;  and  if  I  would  eat  that 
which  is  good,  I  must  come  to  God  for  it, 
grudOTuo;  neither  the  distance  nor  the  diffi- 
cult  traveling  in  the  present  Cyimean  state 
of  the  roads.  My  state  is  wretched,  but  be- 
fore it  can  be  bettered  I  must  come  to  my 
Father's  house,  where  '  there  is  bread  enough 
and  to  spare,'  —  otherwise  '  I  perish  with 
hunger.'  At  present  I  seem  to  be  trying  to 
live,  like  the  tuneless  birds  of  winter  during 


116      THE  PATHS   OF  THE  LOUD. 

a  protracted  snow-storm,  upon  tlie  precari' 
ous  and  accidental  provision  of  spare  and 
slender  crumbs  around  the  doors  of  a  house 
where  the  inmates  are  feasting  daily  on 
nourishing  and  ample  fare. 

"  Spiritual  freshness  and  vigor  of  soul  can 
not  be  obtained  in  such  circumstances.  I 
remember  once  saying  to  an  honest  country- 
man, who,  after  a  day  of  hard  labor,  had 
walked  five  miles  to  hear  a  sermon,  and 
who  had  to  walk  the  same  distance  return- 
ing, — '  You  have  come  a  long  way ;  you 
will  be  very  tired  before  you  get  back.' 
His  answer  was  an  unfinished  sentence,  but 
very  significant,  — '  But  when  there  is  the 
desire,  sir.'  I  quite  understood  him :  '  When 
there  is  the  Spirit-imparted  desire  in  a  man's 
soul  for  the  bread  of  life,  ten  miles  of  road 
are  reckoned  nothing  by  him.'  Had  I  but 
this  desire^  I  would  think  nothing  of  travel- 
ing ten  miles  in  spirit  before  God  at  the 
tlu'one  of  grace,  to  obtain  a  fresh,  invigor- 


THE  PATH  OF  LIFE.  117 

ating  supply  of  '  the  bread  of  life.'  I  have 
a  weak  frame,  and  I  have  sometimes  short- 
ened my  devotional  exercises  out  of  compas- 
sion for  my  fragile  system,  —  for  there  is 
nothing  so  wearing  as  prayer  in  certain 
states,  as  sickly  people  know  too  well ;  but 
I  fear  I  have  been  injured  in  spirit  by  listen- 
ing too  frequently  to  the  carnal  advice  of 
nature,  — '  Spare  thyself.'  But  now  that  I 
am  better  I  feel  no  more  desire  than  for- 
merly, and  am  as  apt  to  shrink  from  intense 
and  continued  application  of  spirit  in  wait- 
ing upon  God.  If  I  could  travel  comfort- 
ably by  a  first-class  express  train,  or  send  a 
cheap  message  by  telegraph,  and  have  little 
or  no  trouble,  I  should  have  bread  from 
heaven  in  great  abundance  all  the  year 
over.  But  having  to  submit  to  the  old  pro- 
cess of  walking  for  it  in  the  present  state  of 
affairs,  alters  the  case  very  materially,  and 
leaves  me  destitute  of  a  sufficient  supply  to 
support   life.      Create    within    me    a    clean 


118       THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

heart,  O  God;  and  renew  a  right  spirit 
within  me.  Give  me  the  heart  that  will 
make  me  wilHng  to  travel  any  distance  for 
the  precious  bread  of  life.  This  desolateness 
of  soul  is  hard  to  bear.  Lord,  quicken  me 
by  thy  almighty  Spirit.  Oh  for  a  softened 
heart,  a  spiritual  mind,  a  soul  filled  with  the 
life  of  God !  Hear  me  speedily,  0  Lord;  my 
spirit  faileth.  Hide  not  thy  face  from  me, 
lest  I  he  like  unto  them  that  go  down  into 
the  pit.  Say  unto  my  soul,  I  am  thy  salva- 
tion.''^ 

The  path  of  life  is  indeed  a  path  we  nat- 
urally know  not,  and  which  we  should  never 
know  but  for  the  Lord's  gracious  leadings. 
We  are  to  be  followers  of  Jesus  in  this  as 
well  as  in  every  thing  else ;  and  his  path  of 
life  lay  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death.  He  who  is  emphatically  the  Life 
passed  through  the  mental  anguish  and  suf- 
fering of  the  garden  of  Gethsemane  and  the 
cross  of  Calvary,  and  lay  under  the  gloom 


THE   PATH  OF  LIFE.  119 

and  darkness  of  the  grave,  before  he  became 
"  the  Livmg  One  to  the  ages  of  ages,"  pos- 
sessed of  a  "  resurrection  life,"  which  is  not 
subject  to  decay  or  death :  and  we,  too,  be- 
ing reckoned  as  one  with  him,  must  "  know 
the  fellowship  of  his  sufferings,  and  be  made 
conformable  unto  his  death,"  if  we  would 
"  know  him  and  the  power  of  his  resurrec- 
tion," and  ''  walk  in  newness  of  life,  not 
after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit." 

It  was  when  the  beloved  disciple  fell  as 
dead  at  Immanuel's  feet,  when  he  beheld 
his  glory  as  the  risen  and  reigning  One,  that 
he  had  to  make  the  following  blessed  record : 
"  He  laid  his  right  hand  upon  me,  saying, 
Fear  not ;  I  am  the  first  and  the  last,  and 
the  living  One ;  and  I  was  the  dead  One, 
and,  behold,  I  am  the  living  One  to  the  ages 
of  ages.  Amen  ;  and  have  the  keys  of  the 
unseen  and  of  death."  And  he  not  only, 
b}^  this,  showed  him  the  path  of  life,  but  he 
opened  the  unseen  and  showed  him  the  path 


120       THE  PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

of  the  church's  life.  And  whoever  reads 
the  book  of  Revelation  will  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  perceiving  that  it  lies  directly 
through  the  midst  of  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death ;  but  on  the  further  verge 
of  that  path  shines  "  the  bright  and  morning 
star,"  which  ushers  in  the  period  of  resur- 
rection life  and  eternal  glory,  —  and  "  there 
shall  be  no  night  there." 

Wherefore,  brethren,  fear  not,  when  pass- 
ing through  the  most  painful  spiritual  expe- 
rience. Jesus  lives,  and  he  says  to  us,  "I 
am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life ;  he  that 
believeth  on  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet 
shall  he  live."  Your  bitter  experience  will 
be  made  effectual  by  the  grace  of  God  in 
expelling  levity,  vain  confidence,  self-suffi- 
ciency, and  self-exultation ;  and  while  the 
exuberance  of  feeling  and  activity  which 
characterize  the  babe  in  Christ  may  leave 
you,  a  mellowness  of  genuine  Christian  ex- 
perience will  be  produced,  and  a  deep-flow- 


THE  PATH  OF  LIFE. 


121 


ing  tide  of  spiritual  life  will  remain,  which 
will  augment  in  depth  and  volume  as  it 
moves  noiselessly  onward  to  the  great  ocean 
of  ''  life  everlasting." 


^^'^^^Sj^i)^^'^^^— 


VIII. 


THE     PATH     OF     GLORY. 

f^^HE  Lord  of  Glory  gives  us  this  as 
the  last  revelation  of  himself:  "  I  am 


the  root  and  the  offspring  of  David, 
the  bright  and  Morning  Star."  How 
full  of  meaning !  How  deeply  in- 
structive !  In  the  Apocalypse  our  Lord  has 
given  us  an  epitome  of  the  history  of  his 
church's  course  through  this  evil  and  rebel- 
lious world,  from  the  times  of  his  immediate 
followers  "  till  the  day  of  redemption,"  when 
"  the  holy  city,  New  Jerusalem,  descends 
from  lieaA^en,"  illumined  by  "  the  glory  of 
God,"  and  when  "  the  nations  of  them  that 
are  saved  shall  walk  in  the  light  of  it,  and 
tlie  kings  of  the  earth  shall  bring  their  glory 

122 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY.  123 

and  honor  into  it."  Here,  as  we  have  al- 
ready said,  the  attentive  reader  will  iind 
that  the  church's  path  lies  directly  through 
the  midst  "  of  the  darkness  of  this  world ;" 
and  in  such  circumstances  she  needed  to 
have  her  thoughts  directed  to  the  coming 
glory  and  the  Morning  Star.  But  why 
should  David  be  mentioned  ?  Why  should 
the  exalted  Jesus  say,  "  I  am  the  root  and 
the  offspring  of  David,"  at  the  same  time 
that  he  says,  "  I  am  the  bright  and  Morning 
Star  ?  "  The  two  references  are  most  ap- 
propriate to  the  circumstances.  The  Lord 
Jesus  speaks  as  the  anointed,  rightful,  but 
rejected  King,  giving  his  faithful  followers 
intimation  both  of  danger  and  deliverance. 
He  is  David's  Lord  and  David's  son,  —  and 
he  has  a  right  to  sit  on  "  the  throne  of  his 
father  David,"  swaying  the  scepter  of  right- 
eousness "  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the 
river  to  the  ends  of  the  earth."  But  the 
world  has  rejected  him,  and  "  the  god  of 


124       TEE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds  of  them 
who  believe  not,  lest  the  light  of  the  gospel 
of  the  glory  of  Christ  should  shine  unto 
them."  David's  experience  is  typical  of 
the  experience  of  David's  Lord. 

There  never  was  a  man  so  tried  and  per- 
secuted as  was  the  anointed  David,  save 
"the  man  Christ  Jesus."  He  was  hunted 
"like  a  partridge  upon  the  mountains" 
by  Saul,  the  God-rejected  and  condemned 
prince,  simply  because  he  was  God's  ap- 
proved and  anointed  king.  His  path  to  the 
glory  of  royal  and  actual  dominion  was 
often  dark  and  crooked,  but  his  God  fulfilled 
his  gracious  promise  in  his  experience,  and 
"made  darkness  light  before  him,  and  crook- 
ed things  straight ; "  and,  after  living  for 
years  the  life  of  a  compulsory  outlaw  in  the 
kingdom  God  had  given  him,  and  even  after 
beino;  forced  to  retire  from  it  altoo;ether,  and 
to  reside  for  a  time  elseAvhere,  he  was  event- 
ually seated  upon  the  throne  of  Jehovah  as 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY.  125 

ruler  over  liis  people.  In  the  deepest  sor- 
rows of  persecution  and  rejection,  he  could 
still  trust  in  his  God,  because  he  knew  that 
he  was  his  chosen  Kino;,  —  his  anointed 
Sovereign ;  and  he  could  even  then  ad- 
dress his  enemies  in  the  language  of  tri- 
umphant expostulation,  —  "O  ye  sons  of 
men,  how  long  will  ye  turn  my  glory  into 
shame  ?  how  long  will  ye  love  vanity,  and 
seek  after  leasing  ?  But  know  that  the  Lord 
hath  set  apart  hiin  that  is  godly  for  himself ; 
the  Lord  will  hear  when  I  call  unto  him." 

Jesus,  "  the  King  of  glory,"  was  made 
flesh  and  dwelt  among  us,  full  of  grace  and 
truth,  and  his  disciples  beheld  his  glory,  the 
glory  as  of  the  only-begotten  of  the  Father. 
They  saw  his  glory  on  the  mount  of  trans- 
figuration, when  Moses  and  Elias  —  repre- 
sentatives of  his  risen  and  translated  church 
—  appeared  with  him,  and  his  awe-struck 
followers  fell  down  before  him,  and  heard 
him  approved  of  God,  as  his  beloved  Son, 


126       THE   PATHS   OF   THE  LOUD. 

in  whom  he  is  well  pleased,  and  wlioin  he 
had  set  over  his  holy  hill  of  Zion.  But 
"  he  came  unto  his  own,  and  his  own  re- 
ceived him  not."  "  He  is  despised  and  re- 
jected of  men."  Thej  would  not  have  him 
to  reign  over  them ;  but,  at  the  instigation 
of  "  the  prince  of  this  world,"  "  their  father 
the  devil,"  they  took  him  by  wicked  hands 
and  crucified  him,  —  thus  showing  at  once 
their  enmity  to  God,  and  their  determination 
to  pour  the  utmost  shame,  ignominy,  and 
contempt  upon  his  chosen  King.  But,  not- 
withstanding all  their  rage  and  opposition, 
"  He  must  reign  till  his  enemies  be  made 
his  footstool."  Although  rejected  by  man, 
he  is  not  rejected  of  God.  On  the  contrary, 
he  has  been  exalted  to  the  throne  of  his 
Father  in  heaven,  "  crowned  with  glory  and 
honor,"  and  he  has  received  "  a  name  which 
is  above  every  name,  that  at  the  name  of 
Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of  things  in 
heaven,  and  things  in  earth,  and  things  un- 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY.  121 

der  the  earth,  and  that  every  tongue  should 
confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glori) 
of  God  the  Father  r"*  Now  Jesus'  word  to 
his  disciples  is,  "Ye  are  they  who  have  con- 
tinued with  me  in  my  temptations,  and  I 
appoint  unto  you  a  kingdom,  as  my  Father 
hath  appointed  unto  me,  that  ye  may  eat 
and  drink  at  my  table  in  my  kingdom,  and 
sit  on  thrones."  The  glorified  Head  is  in 
heaven,  the  suffering  members  are  on  earth, 
and,  if  they  would  enter  into  the  kingdom, 
they  must  do  it  "through  much  tribula- 
tion," for  they  can  not  otherwise  "  know 
the  fellowship  of  his  sufferings,"  and  be 
made  "  conformable  unto  his  death."  "  The 
disciple  is  not  above  his  master,  nor  the 
servant  above  his  lord  ;  it  is  enough  that 
the  disciple  be  as  his  master,  and  the  servant 
as  his  lord.  Ye  shall  be  hated  of  all  men 
for  my  name's  sake,  but  he  that  endureth 
to  the  end  shall  be  saved."  Jesus  was  de- 
spised, hated,  oppressed,  rejected,  and  cruci- 


128       THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

tied  ;  this  was  his  j^a^A  of  glory,  and  it  must 
be  ours  also.  And  the  book  of  Revelation 
teaches  us  this  truth  with  unmistakable 
clearness.  "  I  am  the  bricrht  and  Morning 
Star"  is  therefore  a  cheering  assurance  to 
those  who  have  to  experience  the  rejection, 
persecution,  opposition,  or  neglect  of  the 
world  during  the  night-period  of  the  church's 
history.  The  Apocalypse,  till  near  its  close, 
contains  the  ''  lamentation,  mourning,  and 
woe "  of  a  dark  and  cloudy  night ;  but 
eventually  the  Morning  Star  appears  as  the 
harbinger  of  day ! 

This,  then,  is  the  exhortation,  which  ought 
to  speak  with  solemn  power  to  the  con- 
sciences and  hearts  of  all  the  professed  fol- 
lowers of  the  exalted  Jesus,  —  "  If  ye  then 
be  risen  with  Christ,  seek  those  things  which 
are  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  on  the  right 
hand  of  God.  Set  your  affection  on  things 
above,  not  on  things  on  the  earth.  For  ye 
are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY.  129 

God.  When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall 
appear,  then  shall  ye  also  appear  with  him  in 
glory. '*^  Strange  though  it  may  seem  to  the 
men  of  this  world,  the  only  path  of  glory  is 
the  path  of  self-renunciation,  unworldliness, 
and  shame.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  even 
true  Christians  frequently  and  grievously 
mistake  the  essential  heavenliness  of  the  pres- 
ent dispensation  in  so  far  as  they  are  con- 
cerned, and,  consequently,  they  greatly  err 
in  many  respects,  and  procure  for  themselves 
much  chastisement,  mental  anguish,  and 
sorrow,  which  otherwise  they  might  avoid. 

Even  with  regard  to  the  tilings  of  time, 
we  should  be  willing  to  take  God's  path  of 
prosperity.  In  obedience  to  God,  Noah  ex-, 
pended  his  all  upon  the  construction  of  thei 
ark  ;  at  the  command  of  God,  he  forsook  all  I 
and  entered  it,  but  he  came  out  of  it  thel 
monarch  of  the  world !  The  Lord's  way' 
with  his  servant  Job  appeared  very  dark, 
but   he   eventually   "  made    darkness   light 


130  THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD, 

before  him."  The  Sabeans  fell  upon  his 
oxen  and  asses ;  a  great  fire  from  heaven 
burnt  up  his  sheep ;  the  Chaldeans  carried 
away  his  camels  ;  his  sons  were  buried  under 
the  ruins  of  his  eldest  son's  house ;  he  him- 
self was  delivered  into  the  hands  of  Satan, 
and  was  heavily  tried  in  body,  soul,  and  for- 
tune; but  all  tended  to  his  spiritual  good, 
and  terminated  in  his  temporal  prosperity. 
He  was  brought  low  by  afflictions,  and  was 
constrained  to  confess  unto  the  Lord,  in  the 
very  depths  of  humility,  "  Behold,  I  am 
vile !  what  shall  I  answer  thee  ?  I  will  lay 
my  hand  upon  my  mouth."  "  I  have  heard 
of  thee  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  but  now 
mine  eyes  seeth  thee :  wherefore  I  abhor 
myself,  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes." 
"  Also  the  Lord  gave  Job  twice  as  much  as 
he  had  before."  "  So  the  Lord  blessed  the 
latter  end  of  Job  more  than  the  beginning." 
"  Ye  have  heard  of  the  patience  of  Job,  and 
ye  have  seen  the  end  of  the  Lord,  that  the 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY.  131 

Lord  is  very  pitiful  and  of  tender  mercy." 
It  was  a  very  mysterious  and  unpalatable 
way  that  the  Lord  took  to  show  Job  his 
love  and  pity.  He  stripped  the  patriarch 
of  all  he  possessed,  and  gave  him  up  to  his 
adversary.  Yet  this  was  the  Lord's  way. 
And  he  still  shows  us,  in  these  last  days, 
his  pity  and  tender  mercy  in  a  similar  way. 
He  sweeps  away  a  man's  earthly  substance ; 
deprives  him  of  his  relatives  ;  allows  his 
former  friends  to  suspect  and  vex  him  ;  per- 
mits some  messenger  of  Satan  to  buffet  him  ; 
some  continual  '-'  thorn"  to  lacerate  his  finer 
sensibilities,  and  allows  the  world  to  go  en- 
tirely against  him.  All  this  is  hard  to  bear, 
and  it  is  difficult,  in  such  circumstances,  to 
say,  "  The  will  of  the  Lord  be  done ;  "  but 
"  hght  is  sown  for  the  righteous,"  and,  sooner 
or  later,  it  will  spring  up,  and  yield  "  the 
peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness,"  to  the  glory 
of  God.  It  was  a  time  of  darkness  to  Joseph 
when  he  was  sold  by  his  brethren  to  the 


132       THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

Midianites,  and  carried  down  to  Egypt,  and 
there  was  no  sign  of  light  arising  to  dispel 
that  darkness  for  many  a  day ;  in  fact,  the 
darkness  deepened  as  that  holy  youth  was 
cast  into  the  state-prison  under  the  stigma 
of  an  abominable  sin.  But  the  Lord,  whom 
he  feared  and  served,  was  watching  over 
him,  and  he  "  made  darkness  light  before 
him,  and  crooked  things  straight,"  and  be- 
stowed upon  him  unexpected  prosperity  and 
glory.  In  that  oppressed  but  honorable 
man  lay  concealed  the  first  lord  of  the  treas- 
ury, the  premier  of  Egypt. 

"  Judge  not  the  Lord  by  feeble  sense, 
But  trust  him  for  his  grace ; 
Behind  a  frowning  providence 
He  hides  a  smiling  face." 

Such  cases  clearly  evince  the  watchful 
providence  of  God,  and  show  us  very  clearly 
that,  if  it  would  be  for  their  good  and  his 
glory,  he  is  able  to  bestow  upon  his  people 
the  most  abundant  portion  even  of  the  good 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY.  133 

things  of  this  world,  and,  consequently,  they 
give  point  to  such  exhortations  as,  "  Trust 
in  the  Lord  and  do  good,  so  shalt  thou 
dwell  in  the  land,  and  verily  thou  shalt  be 
fed."  Nevertheless,  believers  are  not  to 
set  before  themselves  the  attainment  of  an 
earthly  inheritance  as  the  result  of  their  at- 
tachment to  Christ.  God  will  certainly  be 
no  man's  debtor,  for  he  who  says,  "  Owe  no 
man  any  thing,"  must  act  out  his  own  prin- 
ciple, and  therefore  Jesus'  words  shall  be 
fulfilled :  "  There  is  no  man  that  hath  left 
house,  or  brethren,  or  sisters,  or  father,  or 
mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  or  lands,  for 
my  sake  and  the  gospel's,  but  he  shall  re- 
ceive an  hundredfold  now  in  this  time: 
houses,  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  and  moth- 
ers, and  children,  and  lands,  with  persecu- 
tions, and  in  the  world  to  come  eternal  life." 
Here  is  the  principle  upon  which  he  will 
act ;  but  it  is  not  the  principle  for  our  con- 
duct.    In  the  very  same  chapter  in  which 


134       THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

the  above  occurs,  we  find  our  Lord  saying 
to  the  young  ruler  who  "  had  great  posses- 
sions," "  One  thing  thou  lackest."  And 
what  was  that  one  thing  but  such  faith  as 
would  produce  the  true  Christian  principle, 
—  the  world-renouncing  spirit?  "Go  thy 
way,  sell  whatsoever  thou  hast,  and  give  to 
the  poor,  and  thou  shalt  have  treasure  in 
heaven,  and  come,  take  up  the  cross  and 
follow  me."  One  would  think  it  was  "  the 
cross  "  Jesus  was  imposing  upon  him^when 
he  commanded  him  to  sell  his  all  and  give 
the  proceeds  to  the  poor ;  but  no,  it  was 
after  he  had  said  this  that  he  adds  the  other 
command,  "  Take  up  the  cross  and  follow 
me,"  clearly  teaching  us  that  the  world-re- 
nouncing spirit  is  the  law  of  discipleship,  and 
is  not  to  be  considered,  in  the  proper  sense 
of  the  term,  a  cross  which  we  must  bear  for 
Christ.  "  If  any  man  will  come  after  me, 
let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross 
and  follow  me ;  for  whosoever  will  save  his 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY.  135 

life  shall  lose  it,  and  whosoever  will  lose  his 
life  for  my  sake  shall  find  it."  He  sums  up 
the  matter  in  another  place  in  these  words : 
"  Whosoever  he  be  of  yoii  that  forsaketh  not 
all  that  he  hath,  he  can  not  be  my  disciple." 
In  the  face  of  such  declarations  as  these,  to 
entertain  the  idea  of  making  the  best  of 
both  worlds  is  to  ignore  the  law  of  disciple- 
ship,  and  introduce  a  principle  at  variance 
with  the  spix'it  of  the  gospel.  The  only  path 
to  glory  is  the  path  of  faith.  But  you  may 
ask  me.  Ought  we  not  to  provide  for  our- 
selves and  for  our  families  ?  Certainly  ; 
"  provide  things  honest  in  the  sight  of  all 
men ;  "  for  "  if  any  man  provide  not  for 
his  own,  and  specially  for  those  of  his 
own  house,  he  hath  denied  the  faith,  and  is 
worse  than  an  infidel."  Christianity  no- 
where enjoins  us  to  neglect  the  use  of  means 
for  the  support  of  ourselves  and  our  house- 
holds ;  but,  on  tlie  contrary,  it  commands 
us  "  to  work  and  eat  our  own  bread."     But 


136       THE   PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

it  peremptorily  forbids  the  lieaping  up  of 
wealth,  and  the  aggrandizement  of  self. 
"  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon 
earth,"  is  just  as  binding  upon  us  as,  "  Thou 
shalt  not  kill."  The  teaching  of  Incarnate 
Wisdom  on  this  point  is  very  plain,  and  very 
precious.  In  the  same  sermon  in  which  he 
teaches  his  disciples  to  pray,  "  Give  us  this 
day  our  daily  hread^''  he  unfolds  and  illus- 
trates the  duty  of  ceasing  to  be  actuated  by 
a  spirit  of  unnecessary  anxiety  with  refer- 
ence to  the  things  of  time,  and  of  placing 
entire  dependence  on  our  heavenly  Father 
for  the  supply  of  all  our  wants.  "  Seek  ye 
first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteous- 
ness, and  all  these  things  shall  be  added 
unto  you."  The  Apostle  Paul,  who  was 
baptized  into  the  spii'it  of  him  "  who,  though 
he  was  rich,  yet  for  our  sakes  became  poor, 
that  we  through  his  poverty  might  be  rich," 
says,  in  one  of  his  epistles,  "  Be  careful  for 
nothing,  but  in  every  thing  by  prayer  and 


THE  PATH  OF  QLORY.  137 

supplication,  with  tlianksgiving,  let  your  re- 
quests be  made  known  unto  God."  We 
are  to  be  anxious  about  nothing,  but  prayer- 
ful for  every  thing.  The  whole  matter  is 
found  in  the  fourth  petition  of  the  Lord's 
prayer :  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread." 
But  how  many  professing  Christians  there 
are  now  whose  utterance  of  these  blessed 
words  is  a  mockery  of  heaven  !  They  have 
much  goods  laid  up  for  many  years,  that 
they  may  be  saved  the  trouble  of  daily 
dependence  upon  their  heavenly  Father ! 
Jesus  teaches  us  to  ask  for  "daily  bread," 
—  nothing  more  ;  and  how  can  we  do  so  if 
we  have  "  much  goods  laid  up  for  many 
years  ?  "  Some  are  in  possession,  it  may  be, 
of  hundreds  and  thousands  of  their  Lord's 
money  for  which  they  have  no  use  what- 
ever, and  yet  they  come  to  the  throne  of 
grace  and  say,  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily 
bread  !  "  Surely  the  very  word  "  our,"  in 
the  Lord's  prayer,  should  teach  such  per- 


138  THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

sons  to  consider  tliat,  if  they  have  abun- 
dance, they  ought  "  to  distribute  to  the  neces- 
sity "  of  their  poorer  brethren.  The  Lord 
teaches  us  not  to  say  "  my  daily  bread,"  but 
"  our  daily  bread,"  thus  associating  all  dis- 
ciples into  one  family,  with  our  Father  in 
heaven  at  the  head  of  it.  You,  perhaps, 
"  hide  your  Lord's  money,"  because  you 
have  not  sufficiently  thought  of  your  poorer 
brethren  in  Christ,  whose  prayers  you  might 
be  instrumental  in  answering  by  communi- 
cating to  them  of  your  abundance.  Oh, 
surely  it  is  a  searching  thought  to  consider, 
that  by  withholding  what  it  is  in  "  the  power 
of  your  hand  "  to  bestow,  you  may  intercept 
the  free  current  of  your  heavenly  Father's 
bounty,  and  may  thus  permit  some  who  are 
very  dear  to  him  to  live  in  straitened  cir- 
cumstances, or  compel  others  wdio  have  a 
talent  for  publicly  serving  him  in  the  king- 
dom of  his  Son  to  confine  their  usefulness  to 
far  narrower  limits  than  they  might  do  were 


THE   PATH  OF  GLORY.  139 

tliej  to  receive  your  encouragement,  sympa- 
thy, and  assistance.  Knowing  that  these 
things  are  so,  what  weight  and  point  does  it 
give  to  the  apostoHc  injunction  !  ^  "  Charge 
them  that  are  rich  in  this  world  that  they 
be  not  high-minded,  nor  trust  in  uncertain 
riches,  but  in  the  hving  God,  who  giveth  us 
richly  all  things  to  enjoy :  that  tliey  do  good^ 
that  they  he  rich  in  good  works,  ready  to  dis- 
tribute, willing  to  communicate  ;  laying  up  in 
store  for  themselves  a  good  foundation  against 
the  time  to  come,  that  they  may  lay  hold  on 
eternal  life."     (1  Tim.  vi.  17-19.) 

But  while  it  is  the  duty  and  privilege  of 
the  rich  to  "  do  good,  to  be  rich  in  good 
works,  ready  to  distribute,  willing  to  com- 
municate," it  is  equally  the  duty  of  the  poor 
as  well  as  the  rich  to  "  trust  in  the  living 
God.^^  Many  sorrows  shall  the  believer  ex- 
perience "  who  trusteth  in  man,  and  maketh 
flesh  his  arm,  and  Avhose  heart  departeth 
from  the  Lord."     But  happy  is  he  who  has 


140       THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

been  convinced  that  "it  is  better  to  trust  in 

the  Lord  than  to  put  confidence  in  man  ;  " 

for  "  blessed  is  the  man  that  trusteth  in  the 

Lord,  and  whose  hope  the  Lord  is ;  for  he 

shall  be  as  a  tree  planted  by  the  waters,  and 

that  spreadeth  out  her  roots  by  the  river, 

and  shall  not  see  when  heat  cometh,  but  her 

leaf  shall  be  green  ;  and  shall  not  be  careful 

in  the  year  of  drought,  neither  shall  cease 

from  yielding  fruit."  (Jer.  xvii.  7, 8.)  .There 

is  too  much  "  confidence  in  man  "  and  too 

I  little  "•  trust  in  the  living  God  "  manifested 

;  by  many  who  profess  "  to  live  and  walk  by 

I  faith ; "  and  much  suffering  to  themselves, 

;  and  not  a  little  injury  to  the  cause  of  Christ, 

/  are  the  inevitable  consequences. 

The  path  of  glory  is  the  life  of  faith  ;  but 
we  are  such  unbelieving,  distrustful  crea- 
tures, that  we  forget  this  great  fact,  and  too 
often  become  assimilated  to  the  world  in  the 
management  of  our  temporal  matters,  and 
"  pierce   ourselves  through  with  many  sor- 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY.  141 

rows."  It  takes  much  discipline  to  teach 
us  that,  instead  of  having  a  moderate  attach- 
ment to  the  things  of  this  world,  we  are  not 
to  love  them  at  all ;  and  that  instead  of 
trusting  to  our  own  forethought,  plans,  and 
efforts,  we  are  confidingly  to  trust  in  God, 
and  depend  upon  the  evolutions  of  his  gra- 
cious providence  for  the  prosperity  of  all  our 
lawful  undertakings  for  the  support  of  our- 
selves and  our  families.  If  you  who  are  the 
true  people  of  God  will  dare  to  live  as  your 
worldly  neighbors  do,  you  may  expect  to  be 
taught  "  a  more  excellent  way,"  and  to  have 
your  prayers  for  grace  to  "  overcome  the 
world,"  answered  "  by  terrible  things  in 
righteousness."  If  you  have  been  shown 
from  the  Word  of  God  that  you  ought  to 
conduct  your  outward  affairs  on  Christian 
principles  and  for  the  glory  of  God,  —  not  in 
accordance  with  "the  trade  spirit"  maxims 
of  the  world,  or  for  the  gratification  of  self, 
or  the  improvement  of  your  worldly  circum- 


142       THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

stances, and  you  "  turn  away  your  ear"  and 
refuse  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  Heavenly 
Wisdom,  you  may  expect  that  the  God  of 
all  grace,  who  loves  you  too  w^ell  to  allow 
you  to  incnist  your  consciences  with  a  coat- 
ing of  worldliness,  will  permit  your  own 
"  wickedness  to  correct  you,  and  your  back- 
slidings  to  reprove  you,"  that  he  may  bring 
home  to  your  heart  the  painful  but  salutary 
lesson  "  that  it  is  an  evil  thing  and  bitter 
tliat  you  have  forsaken  the  Lord  your 
God."  If  you  backslide  in  heart  or  life 
from  the  heavenliness,  dcvotedness,  and 
Avorld-renouncing  spirit  of  "  first-love,"  and 
begin  to  build  again  the  things  you  have 
professedly  destroyed ;  if  you  indulge  again 
in  the  unchristian  conduct  of  calling  up  be- 
fore your  mind's  eye  dreams  of  ambition, 
pleasure,  distinction,  honor,  or  worldly  great- 
ness ;  if  you  let  in  so  much  of  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  world  into  your  heart  that 
your  spiritual  affections  become  chilled,  your 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY.  143 

prayers  cold  and  formal,  your  Christian  en- 
ergies relaxed,  and  your  life  like  a  light  in  a 
November  fog,  ^  you  may  expect  that  you 
will  be  led  back  to  the  real  path  of  glory 
through  some  soul-crushing  ordeal  and  heart- 
rending experience,  which  will  make  the 
most  delicate  feelings  of  your  mental  nature 
quiver,  and  expose  your  folly  in  the  most 
humiliating  manner.  Those  Christians  who 
are  most  thoroughly  separated  from  the 
world,  are  mostly  likely  to  be  truly  happy, 
vigorous,  and  useful  in  the  service  of  their 
Lord  and  Master,  for  there  is  nothing  more 
enfeebling  than  the  love  of  the  world.  "  The 
least  deviation  from  the  line  of  righteous- 
ness will  take  your  strength  away,  and  leave 
you  at  the  mercy  of  the  meanest  foe." 

If  there  is  one  thinp:  more  than  another 

o 

with  reference  to  the  Christian  life  which 
the  disciples  of  the  Lovd  need  to  be  warned 
against,  it  is  an  infringement  cf  the  evan- 
gelical precept  "Owe  no  pmii  any  thing." 


144       THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

Dear  Christian  reader,  beware  of  breaking 
that  commandment,  for  if  you  allow  your- 
self to  be  beguiled  by  Satan  into  violation 
of  this  precept,  you  will  at  once  weaken 
your  spiritual  nature,  and  procure  for  your- 
self anxieties  the  most  distracting,  and  an- 
guish of  soul  the  most  intolerable ;  while 
you  run  a  tremendous  risk  of  ruining  your 
influence  for  life,  and  wounding  your  Sav- 
iour in  the  house  of  his  friends.  On  no 
account  dare  to  deviate  from  the  path  of 
rectitude,  by  incurring  responsibilities  which 
you  can  not  meet.  Do  not  allow  yourself 
to  be  entangled  in  worldly  affairs  by  trust- 
ing to  the  considerate  assistance  of  friends. 
You  will  get  many  friends  to  take  an  inter- 
est in  your  welfare  as  long  as  you  do  not 
require  their  assistance ;  but  you  will  find, 
in  "the  evil  day,"  after  "your  foot  has  been 
snared  and  taken,"  that  single-handed  and 
alone  you  will  be  compelled  to  battle  with 
your  difficulties,  and  extricate  yourself  the 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY.  145 

best  way  you  can ;  and  sooner  or  later  you 
will  certainly  be  made  to  acknowledge  that 
you  "  have  changed  your  glory  for  that 
which  doth  not  profit,"  and  "  committed 
two  evils,"  since  you  "  have  forsaken  God, 
the  fountain  of  living  waters,  and  hewed  out 
for  yourselves  cisterns,  broken  cisterns,  that 
can  hold  no  water."    . 

And  if  you  have  been  taught  from  the 
Word,  and  have  experienced  the  blessedness 
of  living  by  faith  and  prayer  for  a  consider- 
able time,  and  yet,  through  returning  world- 
liness,  pride,  the  necessities  of  friends,  or 
false  humanity,  have  allowed  your  circum- 
stances to  become  involved,  you  may  expect 
much  to  humble  you  before  man,  and  much 
more  to  lay  you  in  the  dust  before  the  Lord. 
He  is  certain  to  bring  you  by  a  way  you 
knew  not,  before  he  makes  darkness  light 
before  you,  and  crooked  things  straight. 
''  Be  not  deceived :  God  is  not  mocked  ;  for 
whatsoever  a  man  sow^eth,  that  shall  he  also 

10 


146       THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

reap."  If  you  sow  in  unbelief,  you  may 
prepare  to  reap  in  anguish.  The  reaping 
time  will  come  to  the  Christian  who  will  not 
live  by  faith  with  reference  to  temporal 
things.  You  have  been  sowing  for  many 
months  or  years  a  large  amount  of  responsi- 
bility ;  but  the  harvest  comes,  and  darkness 
that  may  be  felt  settles  down  upon  youi' 
mind.  Accounts  pour  in  upon  you  from 
every  side,  and,  being  penniless,  your  mind 
is  placed  upon  the  rack,  and  becomes  so 
dreadfully  confounded,  burdened,  and  per- 
turbed, that  you  can  neither  profitably  think, 
read,  pray,  nor  work ;  and  instead  of  hav- 
ing your  face  shining  with  the  spiritual  peace 
of  former  days,  and  radiant  with  the  smile 
of  heavenly  enjoyment,  care  begins  to  depict 
in  your  countenance  the  lineaments  of  anxie- 
ty and  incipient  hopelessness.  You  wander 
lonely  along  the  highway  of  the  world,  con- 
sciously degraded,  filled  with  distracting 
thoughts  respecting  your  own  unhappy  cir- 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY.  147 

cumstances,  incapable  of  spiritual  progress ; 
and,  like  a  ship  becalmed  in  a  tropic  sea, 
you  are  compelled  to  lie  motionless  upon  the 
great  ocean  of  life,  scorched  by  a  flaming 
sun,  and  in  danger  of  being  stifled  by  the 
oppressive  atmosphere  in  which  you  are 
forced  to  breathe.  You  attend  the  house  of 
God,  —  you  meet  with  devoted  Christian 
brethren,  —  you  continue  to  drag  along  your 
former  profession  in  the  accustomed  ruts  of 
duty,  —  you  still  endeavor  to  do  something 
for  your  Lord ;  but  every  where,  and  in  all 
circumstances,  your  liabilities  crowd  in  upon 
your  mind  and  mar  your  devotions,  prevent 
your  spiritual  improvement,  enervate,  bur- 
den, and  distract  you.  It  is  reported  of  a 
late  notable  defaulter,  of  position  in  society, 
that  when  Christian  friends  told  him  of  the 
progress  of  the  Lord's  work,  it  seemed  to 
give  him  a  strange  and  unaccountable  pain 
and  uneasiness ;  he  felt  more  pained  than 
pleased  by  the  information ;  and  when  the 


148       THE  PATHS  OF  THE   LORD. 

terrible  crash  and  exposure  came,  lie  said, 
"  I  am  glad  it  has  happened,  for  I  have  en- 
dured a  hell  in  my  own  mind  in  connection 
with  it  for  the  last  six  years ;  I  have  not  a 
word  to  say  in  extenuation  of  my  conduct ; 
I  am  guilty  of  enormous  sin  against  both 
God  and  man."  This  was  a  dreadful  con- 
dition for  an  outstanding  professor  of  relig- 
ion ;  does  it  not  speak  \^ith  a  trumpet-voice 
of  warning  to  all  Christian  disciples  of  every 
rank  and  age  ? 

How  gracious  is  our  Saviour  in  pointing 
out  so  plainly  the  path  of  safety,  faith,  and 
glory.  He  would  have  us  to  be  '^  without 
carefulness."  His  command  is,  ''  Live  not 
in  careful  suspense"  (Luke  xii.  29,  30), 
"  for  all  these  things  do  the  nations  of  the 
world  seek  after ;  and  your  Father  know- 
eth  that  ye  have  need  of  these  things ;  but 
rather  seek  ye  the  kingdom  of  God,  and 
all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you." 
When   burdened   with    care,   and    anxiaus 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY.  149 

about  your  fiiture  prospects,  there  is  no 
surer  or  speedier  way  of  being  relieved  than 
"  casting  all  your  care  upon  hhn,  for  he 
careth  for  you."  His  own  blessed  command 
is,  "  Cast  thy  burden  upon  the  Lord,  and  he 
shall  sustain  thee ;  he  shall  never  suffer  the 
righteous  to  be  moved."  *     Let  your  con- 


*  "  There  is  a  way  by  which  all  excess  of  anxiety  may  be  re- 
moved, and  the  heart  be  left  with  all  its  tender  afFection,  and 
yet  with  no  more  solicitude  than  such  as  the  blessed  in  heaven 
raig-ht  feel  without  a  diminution  of  their  happiness.  It  is  to 
cast  care  on  God.  That  is  the  true  and  only  effectual  way  to 
dispose  of  care.  He  caii  take  the  burden,  however  huge  or 
heavy.  You  do  not  doubt  that;  but  you  ask, '  Will  he  ?  May 
I  cast  it  on  him?  I  — such  a  one  as  I  — cast  my  cares  —  the 
whole  multitude  and  burden  of  them  —  on  such  a  being  as 
God?  I  know  the  government  of  the  mighty  univeroo,  and 
the  providence  which  extends  to  the  minute  equally  as  to  the 
magnificent,  reaching  low  as  to  the  fall  of  a  sparrow  and  the 
numbering  of  the  hairs  of  the  head,  does  not  distract  or  bur- 
den him.  I  know  he  can  take  a  large  charge  and  not  feel  it. 
But  will  he  ?  will  such  greatness  stoop  to  such  littleness,  such 
holiness  come  down  to  such  vileness  ? '  Yes,  it  will,  for  con- 
descension is  one  characteristic  of  greatness ;  and  '  the  blood 
of  Jesus  Christ,  his  Son,  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin."  But  why 
do  I  reason  ?  Does  not  the  Holy  Ghost  say  by  David,  '  Cast 
thy  burden  upon  the  Lord,  and  he  shall  sustain  thee  ? '  and  by 


150       THE  PATHS   OF  THE  LORD. 

versation  be  without  covetousness,  and  be 
content  with  such  things  as  ye  have,  for  he 
hath  said,  "  I  will  never  leave  thee  nor  for- 
sake thee."  With  such  a  promise  there  is 
no  reason  why  God's  people  should  despond 
in  the  midst  of  the  darkest  providences,  or 
why  they  should,  through  impatience,  adopt 
unscriptural  means  for  promoting  their  world- 
ly interests.  With  a  Father  in  heaven  ever 
ready  to  help  us,  there  is  no  need  for  rush- 
ing into  debt  or  using  doubtful  expedients  to 
rectify  circumstances  which  have,  through 
ignorance  and  without  sinfulness,  become 
involved. 

Many  of  God's  children  are  taught,  b}^ 

Peter,  '  Casting  all  your  care  upon  him  ? '  and  by  Paul,  '  Be 
careful  for  nothing  ? '  And  does  not  Immanuel  himself  say, 
'  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest  ? '  No  longer  ask  if  you  may,  but  use  your 
privilege.  Here  Is  your  authority.  The  Lord  says  you  may 
do  it,  —  nay,  more,  —  commands  j'ou  to  do  it.  It  is  your  duty 
as  well  as  your  privilege.  So  far  is  it  from  being  presumption 
to  cast  your  care  on  God,  it  is  a  sin  not  to  do  it. ^^  —  Practical 
'Thoughts,  by  William  Kevins,  D.  D. 


THE  PATH   OF  GLORY.  151 

bitter  and  dear-bouglit  experience,  that  they 
should  be  separated  from  the  world,  botli  in 
principle  and  practice,  and  live  as  "  strangers 
and  pilgrims"  here;  and  happy  should  we 
be  if  what  we  have  now  written  were  used 
by  the  divine  Spirit  to  warn  and  instruct 
any  of  our  dear  readers  who  have  not  suf- 
ficiently realized  the  truth  that  the  path  of 
faith  is  the  only  path  of  glory.  Whatever 
lukewarm  professors  may  say  to  the  con- 
trary, "  affliction  and  poverty  are  the  dis- 
tinctive features  of  the  saints  of  God  under 
the  new  dispensation  ;  affluence  and  exemp- 
tion from  great  suffering  were  probably  those 
of  the  saints  of  the  former  economy.  The 
character  of  the  gospel  economy  is  unique. 
It  is  the  dispensation  of  suffering^  the  econ- 
omy of  the  cross.  The  sufferings  of  the  old 
dispensation  were  more  in  type  and  shadow 
and  symbol.  But,  of  the  new  is  the  great, 
the  dark  filling  up  of  the  outline  of  the  pic- 
ture.    The  Son  of  God  suffered,  —  the 


152  THE  J'ATIJS  OF   THE  LOUD. 

Son  of  God  died  !  And  Christianity  de- 
rives all  its  efficacy,  and  tlie  Christian  dis- 
pensation all  its  character,  and  the  Christian 
all  his  glory,  from  this  single,  this  wondrous 
fact :  "  Unto  you  it  is  given,  in  the  behalf 
of  Christ,  not  only  to  believe  in  his  name, 
but  also  to  suffer  for  his  sake."  "  Whoso- 
ever doth  not  bear  his  cross  and  come  after 
me  can  not  be  my  disciple."  Such  is  the 
nature  of  Christ's  religion,  and  such  the 
terms  of  his  discipleship,  —  suffering  and 
self-denial.  By  those  who  are  not  initiated 
into  the  mysteries  of  tlie  kingdom  of  grace, 
this  is  a  truth  hard  to  be  understood.  To 
them  it  is  inexplicable  how  one,  whose  per- 
son is  loved  by  God,  whose  sins  Christ  has 
forgiven,  whose  life  appears  holy,  useful,  and 
honored,  should  be  the  subject  of  divine 
correction,  and,  perhaps,  in  some  instances, 
should,  more  than  others,  seem  smitten  of 
God,  and  afflicted.     But  to  those  who  are 


THE  PATH  OF  OLOJiY.  153 

students  of  Christ,  who  learn  at  the  feet  of 
Jesus,  this  is  not  an  insoluble  problem."  * 

"  When  God  saves  a  soul  he  tries  it.  He 
never  gives  faith  without  trying  it.  The 
way  to  Zion  is  through  the  valley  of  Baca. 
You  must  go  through  the  wilderness  of 
Jordan  if  you  are  to  come  to  the  Land  of 
Promise.  Some  believers  are  much  sur- 
prised when  they  are  called  to  suffer.  They 
thought  they  would  do  some  great  thing  for 
God ;  but  all  that  God  permits  them  to  do 
is  to  suffer.  Go  round  every  one  in  glory, 
—  every  one  has  a  different  story,  yet  every 
one  has  a  tale  of  suffering.  One  was  perse- 
cuted in  his  family,  by  his  friends  and  com- 
panions ;  ano'ther  was  visited  by  sore  pains 
and  humbling  disease,  —  neglected  by  the 
world  ;  another  was  bereaved  of  children ; 
another  had  all  these  afflictions  meeting  in 
one,  —  deep  called  unto  deep.  Mark,  all 
are  brought  out  of  them.     '  These  are  they 

*  It  is  Well.    By  Octavius  Winslow,  D.  D. 


154  'rHE  PATHS   OF  THE  LOUD. 

which  came  out  of  great  tribulation.'  It  was 
a  dark  cloud,  but  it  passed  away  ;  the  water 
was  deep,  but  they  have  reached  the  other 
side.  Not  one  of  them  blames  God  for  the 
road  he  led  them,  —  'Salvation'  is  their 
only  cry.  Is  there  any  of  you,  dear  read- 
ers, murmuring  at  your  lot  ?  Do  not  sin 
against  God.  This  is  the  way  God  leads  all 
his  redeemed  ones.  You  must  have  a  palm 
as  well  as  a  white  robe.  No  pain,  no  palm ; 
no  cross,  no  crown ;  no  thorn,  no  throne ; 
no  gall  no  glory.  Learn  to  glory  in  tribu- 
lations also.  '  I  reckon  that  the  suflPerings 
of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be 
compared  with  the  glory  that  shall  be  re- 
vealed in  us.'  "  * 

"  Beloved,  think  it  not  strange  concern- 
ing the  fiery  trial  which  is  to  try  you,  as 
though  some  strange  thing  happened  unto 
you ;  but  rejoice,  inasmuch  as  ye  are  par- 
takers of  Christ's  sufferings,  that  when  his 

*  M'Clieyne's  "  Sermons.''^ 


THE   PATH  OF  GLORY.  155 

GLORY  shall  be  revealed,  ye  may  be  glad 
also  with  exceeding  joy."  Until  his  glory 
be  revealed,  we  must  not  aspire  to  any  glory 
here,  but  follow  in  his  footsteps,  arming  our- 
selves likewise  with  the  same  mind.  Our 
only  safe  attitude  is  that  of  coming  up  from 
the  ivilderness  leaning  upon  our  Beloved. 
This  is  not  our  rest,  —  our  "  rest  is  glory." 
(Isa.  xi.  10.)  This  is  the  place  of  our 
Lord's  rejection,  and  we  could  not  wish  that 
the  world,  which  crowned  our  divine  Master 
with  thorns  —  the  symbols  of  earth's  evil 
condition  —  and  nailed  him  to  the  ignomin- 
ious  cross  as  an  accursed  one,  would  crown 
us  with  wreaths  of  laurel,  and  cherish  and 
love  us  as  its  truest  friends  and  chosen  com- 
panions. He  lived,  for  the  greater  part  of 
his  sojourn  here,  in  a  lowly,  obscure,  and 
mean  condition ;  and,  after  he  entered  on 
his  public  ministry,  he  could  say,  "  The 
foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air 
have  nests,  but  the  Son  of  man  hath  not 


156       THE   PATHS   OF   THE  LORD. 

where  to  lay  his  head."  And  if  he  who, 
"  though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  our  sakes  be- 
came poor,"  lived  in  such  circumstances,  it 
would  surely  be  most  unbecoming  in  us,  his 
professed  friends  and  followers,  to  aim  at 
being  great,  rich,  honored,  or  renowned. 
"  Let  this  mind  be  in  you  which  was  also  in 
Christ  Jesus,  who,  being  in  the  form  of  God, 
thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God, 
but  made  himself  of  no  reputation.,  and  took 
upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was 
made  in  the  likeness  of  men ;  and  being 
found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled  him- 
self., and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even 
the  death  of  the  cross." 

Oh !  to  be  so  thoroughly  possessed  of  the 
lowly  and  self-abnegating  mind  of  Christ, 
that  we  could  enter  personally  and  enthusi- 
astically into  the  apostle's  triumphant  but 
self-renouncing  experience,  when  he  says, 
''  I  am  crucified  with  Christ ;  nevertheless, 
I  live ;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me ; 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY.  157 

and  the  life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh,  I 
live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who 
loved  me  and  gave  himself  for  me." 

We  have  no  bright  prospects  here,  but 
we  have  the  brightest  prospects  for  "  the 
world  to  come."  We  shall  be  with  om' 
beloved  Saviour  in  his  kingdom,  and  be  sat- 
isfied with  the  spiritual  refreshment  which 
shall  be  given  us  in  his  glorious  presence. 
And  even  our  trials  here  shall  prepare  us 
for  higher  enjoyment  there  :  "  for  our  light 
affliction,  which  is  but  for  a  moment,  work- 
etli  out  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory,  while  we  look  not 
at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at  the 
things  which  are  not  seen :  for  the  things 
which  are  seen  are  temporal ;  but  the  things 
which  are  not  seen  are  eternal." 

These  are  the  crowns  that  we  shall  wear 
When  all  thy  saints  are  crowned  ; 

These  are  the  palms  that  we  shall  bear 
On  yonder  holy  ground. 


158       7' HE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 

Far  off  as  yet,  reserved  in  heaven, 

Above  that  vailing  sky, 
They  sparkle,  like  the  stars  of  even. 

To  Hope's  far-piercing  eye. 

These  are  the  robes,  misoiled  and  white. 
Which  then  Ave  shall  put  on, 

When,  foremost  'mong  the  sons  of  light. 
We  sit  on  yonder  throne. 

That  city  with  the  jeweled  crest, 
Like  some  new-lighted  sun ; 

A  blaze  of  burning  amethyst,  — 
Ten  thousand  orbs  in  one ;  — 

That  is  the  city  of  the  saints, 
Where  we  so  soon  shall  stand. 

When  we  shall  strike  these  desert-tents, 
And  quit  this  desert-sand. 

These  are  the  everlasting  hills. 
With  summits  bathed  in  day ; 

The  slopes  down  which  the  living  rills. 
Soft-lapsing,  take  their  way. 

Fair  vision,  how  thy  distant  gleam 
Brightens  time's  saddest  hue  ! 

Far  fairer  than  the  fairest  dream. 
And  yet  so  strangely  true ! 


THE  PATH  OF  GLORY.  159 

Fair  vision,  how  thou  liftest  up 

The  drooping  brow  and  eye  ! 
With  the  calm  joy  of  thy  sure  hope 

Fixing  our  souls  on  high. 

Tbj  light  makes  even  the  dari^est  page 

In  Memory's  scroll  grow  fair ; 
Blanching  the  lines  which  tears  aud  age 

Had  only  deepened  tlieie. 

With  thee  in  view,  the  rugged  slope 

Becomes  a  level  way, 
Smoothed  by  the  magic  of  thy  hope, 

And  gladdened  by  thy  ray. 

With  thee  in  view,  how  poor  appear 
The  world's  most  winning  smiles ; 

Vain  is  the  tempter's  subtlest  snare, 
And  vain  hell's  varied  wiles. 

Time's  glory  fades  ;  its  beauty  now 

Has  ceased  to  lure  or  blind ; 
Each  gay  enchantment  here  below 

Hast  lost  its  power  to  bind. 

Then  welcome,  toil  and  care  and  pain  1 

And  welcome  sorrow  too  ! 
All  toil  is  rest,  all  grief  is  gain, 

With  such  a  prize  in  view. 


IGO       THE  PATHS  OF  THE  LORD. 


Come,  crown  and  throne !  come,  robe  and  palm ! 

Burst  forth,  glad  stream  of  peace ! 
Come,  holy  city  of  the  Lamb  ! 

Rise,  Sun  of  Righteousness  ! 

When  shall  the  clouds  that  vail  thy  rays 

For  ever  be  withdrawn  ? 
Why  dost  thou  tarry,  day  of  days  1 

When  shall  thy  gladness  dawn  ? 

Songs  of  Faith  and  Hope. 


DATE  DUE 


1  1 1  ^   illTI-"' 

W 

')jfC- 

^75^^' 

■ 

CAYLORO 

^•INTEOINO.S.A. 

